Bottled Under Love's Labyrinth
by lifeisveryshortsoami
Summary: "For the first time in my life, I couldn't wait for a holiday to arrive." Thanksgiving is just around the bend for the swac crew. Part Two in the COW series. A special re-upload for all my readers.
1. Prologue

I warned you that you should be on the lookout for BULL (Bottled Under Love's Labyrinth)

I'm hoping to upload it as fast as COW was uploaded since all the chapters are already written so all I need to do is edit them.

Once again, this re-upload goes out to all of my amazing friends on this site!

For anyone who doesn't know, THIS STORY IS THE SECOND PART OF A THREE BOOK SERIES! GO TO MY PROFILE AND READ COW, CRUSH OF THE WEEK, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

That is all. Hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thanks for asking though!

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Prologue

Mrs. Munroe was walking out of her apartment just as my fist was going into the air to knock on the door. She wasn't surprised to see me (I'd come up almost every day since Sonny and I had started dating), but she did take the time to narrow her eyes and jab her finger into my chest.

I knew what she was going to say before the words left her mouth. She was going to give me a warning, the same warning she gave me every single morning. Sure, it got annoying hearing it every day and it seemed like she would've learned to trust me a tiny bit by now (I was over almost as much as I was at my own house). Still, I would deal with hearing it as many times as she felt the need to say it.

Sonny was worth it.

"Just because I'm leaving for work now doesn't mean you're free to do whatever you wish with my daughter," Mrs. Munroe said the words I already knew so well. "If I ever hear even one word about you touching her against her will, I'll-,"

Oh, how little she knew about the relationship between Sonny and me. Not only would I never dream of doing something like she suggested every morning, but it was her daughter who did most of the touching. I understood how hard it could be to have to look at my face all day and have to keep your hands off (I couldn't even do it), but Sonny took things to a new level. She'd reach out and take my hand when I least expected it. If she thought I wasn't being romantic enough, she would take my arm and put it around either her waist or shoulders. Every time I leaned in to kiss her, she was eager to accept and kept her arms wrapped around me, keeping me attached to her for as long as she could.

If anyone deserved the warning I got every morning, it was my girlfriend.

"Mrs. Munroe," I cut her off mid-sentence, just as I did every morning. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to make my eyes as soft as possible. "Don't you trust the two of us?"

"You're asking me if I trust two television stars who think they own the world because the world loves them?" Mrs. Munroe gave me a skeptical look. "Of course I don't trust you!"

Pushing away my hand, she stepped out of the doorway, not bothering to shut the door behind her.

"But you can still go in because you have every day and I haven't had any bad reports yet," she said as she started walking down the hall. She called over her shoulder one last time. "I mean it though, if I hear even one word-,"

The rest of her threat was blocked out when I shut the apartment door.

When Sonny and I had first started dating, I spent the awkward stage, the time we were both figuring out how to cross the line from friends into something much better, waiting for her at Condor Studios every morning. We began to grow more comfortable with each other and once her cast got tired of seeing me every morning, I started picking her up instead.

For the first few days, I waited in my car until Sonny came outside, ready to go. Her mom would always walk by five or ten minutes before Sonny would arrive (always giving me the same glower she did today) and it was me who asked Sonny where her mom went.

"Oh, she leaves for her job a few minutes before we have to go," she'd told me before turning her attention to the floor, nervously wringing her hands together. "If you wanted to, you could come up to the apartment after she leaves instead of waiting in the parking lot."

I tried to wait until I was sure Mrs. Munroe was out of ear-shot before getting out of my car so she wouldn't hear me shut the door. I wasn't sure if she'd be mad if she knew I went inside every day (some parents could be weird about a dating teenage couple being left totally and completely alone). My game only worked for about a week. After that, I didn't see Mrs. Munroe walk by and figured she must've left early. When I knocked on the apartment door though, I was shocked to see her standing there.

After that morning, Mrs. Munroe made sure to always be there to let me in and other than her daily threat, she didn't seem to mind my presence. I was happy she didn't tell me I wasn't allowed to come in; the mornings were my favorite time of the day.

While Sonny and I were at the studio, we didn't get any alone time. She was always on her set and I was on mine. When we had time to visit with each other, our cast mates were always around. Even during lunchtime when Sonny came and sat beside me, Portlyn was just as eager to talk to her as I was and seemed to monopolize the time. I would try to take Sonny places where we could be alone at night, but somehow we'd get followed (usually by Nico and Grady, who seemed to think now that Sonny and I were dating, they could hang out with me and raise their 'cool' status).

Most days, the time in the morning after Mrs. Munroe left for work was the only time Sonny and I got to be alone for the rest of the day.

Today, Sonny wasn't waiting for me in the living room upon my entrance. She didn't come running out to meet me when I closed the door behind me, signaling my entrance. That could only mean one thing: she was still getting ready to go.

"Sonny?" I called out anyway, heading down the short hallway where her room was, along with the bathroom and the room Mrs. Munroe slept in. All three doors were shut.

As I stood there, waiting for Sonny's shout to tell me she wasn't ready and I should go make myself at home, one of the doors flew open. I almost jumped out of my skin as her head popped out of the bathroom, her brown eyes sparkling as she took in my expression.

"Did I scare you?" she asked eagerly.

"Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't get scared," I replied, watching as her smile fell. "He does pretend to be though to spare the feelings of the scare-er."

Sonny rolled her eyes, not finding my statement charming like she was supposed to.

"Go make yourself comfortable," she told me. "I'll be ready to go in a few minutes."

"You're not ready yet?" I asked before she could shut the door. "I can see your face; you already have make-up on. What else do you need to do?"

Although she was hiding her body behind the door so all I could see was her head, from what I could tell she looked fine. Better than fine even; she looked great. She looked any adjective that would bring her out of the bathroom and let us waste our last few minutes together instead of with a door between us.

Smiling up at me, Sonny shook her head the small amount the door allowed.

"Just go wait, Cooper," she ordered again. "I'll be there in a few."

Without another word, she slammed the door shut, leaving nothing behind but a trace of the perfume she was wearing, the perfume that drove me wild no matter how many times I smelled it.

'Stupid perfume,' I thought as I left the hallway, instead heading toward the living room. 'I don't know how you do it, Sonny, I really don't. It's been over a year and I'm still just as much in love with you as I was the first day. I don't know what I would do if I had to go a day without you. Thankfully, I'll never have to find out.'

Thankfully. I couldn't help but laugh at my small joke as I flopped onto the Munroe's couch, my head on one armrest, my feet hanging off the other. There was a lot for me to be thankful for this month, or at least, that's what Sonny kept telling me. It is November after all.

No one at Condor Studios ever cared about holidays. For my first few years working on Mackenzie Falls, my cast and I laughed at the thought of special days, not talking about them before or after the break we received with them. It was nothing special to us. All we cared about was making sure our show stayed number one.

Now that Sonny was around with her annoying (and yet so cute) bubbly personality, it was impossible to ignore any holiday. She seemed to know when each and every one of them were by heart and felt each of them needed celebrated in their own special way ("I'm not the one who comes up with the celebrations," she'd told me one day as I helped her wrap Christmas presents for her family. "People have been doing it this way for years. I can't believe you've never even heard of putting up a Christmas tree!").

I wasn't the only one Sonny forced to get into the spirit. Her cast had to make decorations as well and she even worked on my cast during lunch. As soon as she was done, they would all ask me if we were really going along with her plans.

"We're going to do whatever she says," I'd always tell them. "And I don't want her to hear any mumbling about it either, got it?"

Thanks to Sonny, last year around Christmas time, the Mackenzie Falls set had been full of the Christmas spirit. There was a tree, stockings, candy canes, cookies (having to bake them hadn't been so bad. When I burnt the first batch trying on my own, Sonny helped me and we ended up in a huge flour fight), and even a gift exchange between our two casts.

And now that Christmas was right around the corner again, Sonny was trying to get everyone into a Thanksgiving mood. Before letting any of us start eating our lunches, she made us go around the table and say one thing we were thankful for every day. Her and I got into a huge fight when she wanted me to draw a 'turkey' by tracing my hand. Both casts had watched in embarrassment as she stood behind me, using all her strength to push my hand down to the paper waiting on the desk.

I would do a lot of things to make her happy, but stooping low enough to draw a turkey like any little kid would do-

That was where I set my limits.

'She'll be surprised this year,' I thought happily, feeling the smile as it overtook my lips. 'Wait until she hears that I'm the one who planned Thanksgiving instead of making her do all the work! She'll be so proud of me!'

I was so far gone in my thoughts that I never heard the bathroom door open again. I didn't realize Sonny was standing beside me until I heard her voice.

"Alright, Chad, I'm ready to go whenever you are."

Scrambling to get off the couch, I didn't take the time to look at Sonny until I was standing at my full height, ready to pull her to my side and tell her good morning. My hands stopped mid-air when I finally took a good look at her.

Her clothes were normally an outward appearance of what her hyper insides were like, usually exploding in her own unique colors and styles. Today's outfit didn't fit in with her normal attire at all. She was wearing an all black long-sleeved dress with a white apron type thing tied around her waist. On her head was a matching black hat with a white trim around it. She looked like - like…

"What are you supposed to be?" I asked, not daring to take a step closer to her.

"Do you like it?" She spun around in a circle, letting the dress swirl around her body. "It's for the Thanksgiving sketch So Random! is filming today. I'm a pilgrim!"

"It's very…cute," I told her, struggling to find the right word to use, something that wouldn't force me to lie or make her angry. Cute worked; for her little comedy show, the dress would fit in just fine. "Now go take it off."

Sonny looked confused as I sat down on the couch again, this time sitting the way I was supposed to. I didn't have time to get comfortable. By the time she was done putting on her normal clothing, it would be time to leave.

It took me a few minutes of Sonny's glaring before I realized she hadn't taken a step toward her room. Her arms were folded over her chest and she was staring down at me with those beautiful eyes of hers in slits.

"What?" I asked, now feeling a tad bit confused myself.

"Why do I have to change? I think this costume looks really good on me."

"It does look really good on you, as far as costumes go. But you're not going to wear it while riding in my car."

"Your car has a dress code now?"

"Yes. It states 'no pilgrims are allowed inside for the sake of embarrassing both the driver and the person in the pilgrim costume'."

I knew immediately I'd said something wrong. Sonny's mouth opened into the perfect O as she placed one hand on her hip.

"Well, if the driver is so embarrassed to be seen with the pilgrim, maybe the pilgrim should find a new ride," she suggested.

"Maybe she should," I agreed.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

Not giving me a chance to retort, Sonny stormed out of the room. I followed her as she walked down the hall again, this time going into her room. When she didn't shut the door behind her, I stood in the doorway.

"Oh, good," I said as I sighed in relief, watching as Sonny headed toward her closet. "You're finally going to change."

"Nope," she informed me at the last second, turning away from the closet and to her bedside table instead. "I'm calling Grady to pick me up."

Grady had just received his driving license only a few weeks ago and drove around a piece of trash he'd bought at the junkyard because he thought it looked cool. The car was always breaking down on him, and I made sure I was far away when he was either arriving at or leaving the studio. He had a habit of driving on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, right," I laughed as Sonny picked up her cell phone. "Like I'm really going to believe you're brave enough to get in a car with that knucklehead!"

"I got in one with you, didn't I?"

I didn't think she was really going to do it. She'd seen Grady's car and his driving skills, probably more than I had, and she knew getting in a car with him would be her dumbest idea. She was too smart to really do it.

Making sure I was watching her, Sonny started hitting buttons on the phone, trying to make me think she was punching in Grady's number. When she brought the phone to her ear, I still stayed in the doorway, knowing she was faking it. As she waited for whoever she'd really called to answer, she stuck her tongue out at me.

It wasn't until I heard her say, "Hey, Grady! I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?" that I finally ran to her side, reaching out for the phone. I succeeded in getting it away from her ear, but she was still holding the other end of it as I tried to pull it from her grasp.

"Give me the phone, Munroe!" I ordered, my voice strained as I tugged (she could be pretty strong when she wanted to be). "You're not riding in Grady's death machine! I'll drive you, alright? And you can even keep on that costume if you insist."

"My costume and I don't need your pity ride!" she protested. "Go on ahead to the studio, Chad. I'll meet up with you after filming and I have a chance go change clothes."

"Will you just give me the phone so I can hang up before your friends hear all this yelling and think I'm trying to rape you?"

"Maybe if they think that, they'll call the police and I can ride to the studio in a police car! Grady, can you hear me? Call 9-1-1, Chad's trying to-,"

The threat Mrs. Munroe gave me every morning echoed through my head: 'If I ever hear even one word about you touching her against her will, I'll-,'

I had a feeling Sonny shouting the word rape into a phone would count as one word.

Before she could speak the 'R' word, I let go of the phone, reaching to cover Sonny's mouth with my hands. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought the plan through completely. Once I let go of the phone, she lost her balance and flew backwards. Luckily, she was standing in front of her bed and that was what caught her as she fell.

I pounced after she was down, pinning her on her back as I placed my hands on either side of her head. Her hands were on my chest as she tried to push me away, but once my lips were on hers, her fingers clutched my shirt tighter as she tried to pull me closer. I let her guide me down a little but not much. The last thing I wanted to do was squish her under my weight.

To my surprise, it wasn't long before her hands were pushing me away again. Thinking something was wrong (I couldn't remember the last time she'd done that), I pulled away from her, moving so she could sit up straight. She hunched over as she went into a coughing fit, her coughs deep enough to make me flinch. I could only imagine how much they hurt her own throat.

"Are you alright?" I asked once she was quiet again, my hand rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"I'm fine," she assured me, but the smile she gave me didn't make me believe her. She beat her chest with her fist, trying to make sure she was done coughing. "I'm fine. I just - I just needed - a minute - to…"

Her voice trailed off as she started panting. I continued rubbing her back, not caring if I sounded concerned to her or not. Something was wrong; my kisses would leave her breathless sometimes, but never to this extent.

"What's the matter?" I teased, not wanting her to know how worried I really was. "Was my kiss too much for a mere mortal like you?"

Despite her heavy breathing, almost strong enough to be called pants, Sonny playfully punched my shoulder.

"I'm only out of breath because of the coughing fit," she explained, at least able to speak a sentence at a time now. "That's not your fault, unless I'm allergic to you or something."

"I'm sure it's not that," I said quickly. Sonny didn't get a chance to answer me; she started coughing again. "I have something that will cheer you up: Do you want to hear what we're doing for Thanksgiving?"

I watched as her eyes widened in surprise.

"You thought of Thanksgiving plans for us?" She waited for my nod before shaking her head. "I thought you didn't celebrate holidays?"

"Well, Condor Studios is shutting down for a week to give us all a chance to spend time with our families," I explained. "I don't think I get a choice in whether or not I celebrate this one."

"I'm not part of your family, Chad. You just said yourself that's why the Studio is shutting down. Shouldn't you be planning activities for them, not us?"

"You really think I can go seven days without seeing you?" I scoffed and was rewarded with a deep blush on her cheeks. "Now, let me try this again: Do you want to know what we're doing for Thanksgiving?"

"I would love to know what you've got up your sleeve."

I'd worked on my plans forever to prove to Sonny I could not only be romantic but I could also understand her desire to have every holiday celebrated the perfect way. All I could do now was hope she liked what I'd come up with.

"Well, since the studio is shutting down for exactly seven days, I thought we might relive the week I asked you out," I started to explain, slipping my arm around her waist as I spoke.

Sonny's brow wrinkled as she stared at me thoughtfully.

"How are we going to do that? Did you get Nico and Grady's time machine to actually work?"

"That's not what I meant. We're going to relive the week, but of course I mean we're going to do the same events we did on the same day we did them then. For example, on what I called Munroe Monday, I'm coming over here for dinner again, but this time, I'll cook for you and your mom. And on Twizzle Tuesday, we're going ice skating, hopefully with our families since that's the way it happened before. Waterfall Wednesday we're hiking to the Falls-,"

"We can't go to a Hollywood party on Thursday," Sonny interrupted me. "Thursday is Thanksgiving."

"I know," I said quickly, smiling, "And I already thought of that! Since we didn't really do much of anything Sunday of that week, we can go to a party then to make up for Thursday. Friday I'll take you out to a fancy restaurant-,"

"Because I'll really be hungry after eating enough to gain ten pounds the day before."

"We'll finish off on Saturday by doing whatever you want to do," I stated, pretending I didn't hear her last comment. "Saturday will be all yours, so you better start thinking about where you'd like me to take you."

My eyes were on Sonny now that I was done explaining my idea. It was the moment of truth. Either she would like the idea or she would hate it. If she liked it, I would be happy and not change it. If she hated it, I would have to think of something even better. Nothing was too good for her.

To my relief, there was a smile on her face as she brought her body closer to mine, wrapping her arms around my neck. The smell of her perfume was strong, too strong, as she giggled right in my ear.

"It sounds wonderful, Chad," her soft voice said as her lips lingered by my ear. "I'm proud of you for figuring it out on your own, too. Thank you for trying to make Thanksgiving special for me."

"I'd do anything to make you happy," I whispered back.

As the two of us hugged each other close, basking in the feeling of being near one another, the room fell into a comfortable silence. That was when I heard a voice speaking from Sonny's phone.

"You forgot to hang up after calling Grady!" I exclaimed, letting her go so she could grab the still talking phone. "He's been listening in this whole time! How much do you think he heard? Do you think he'll be mad? What if he convinced your whole cast to listen in-,"

Sonny silenced me when she put the phone to my ear. It wasn't Grady's voice I heard once I shut up long enough to listen. It was an automated voice informing me what time it was in different regions all around the world.

I had my mouth open, starting to ask Sonny why Grady's voice had changed, but when I saw the smile she was giving me, it all sunk in: she'd never called Grady in the first place. It had all been staged to make it appear like she had when really the time number was what she dialed.

"You have ten seconds," I informed her. "Ten…Nine…Eight…"

Sonny was already on her feet, her cell phone forgotten on the bed as she ran out of the room. I took off after her without waiting until I reached zero, and when she looked over her shoulder and saw how close I was to her, she shouted something about it not being fair. Just as she reached the door, I wrapped my arms around her waist, happily spinning the two of us around.

"No one is too fast for Chad Dylan Cooper!" I exclaimed before my tone changed. "Sonny?"

Her body was limp in my arms. She was leaning over again, just as she'd done in her room, and if my arms hadn't been wrapped around her, she would've fallen to the floor. I dragged her into the kitchen as fast as I could, whispering soothing words as we went. I wasn't sure if she could hear me over her coughing fit.

Keeping one arm firmly around her, I used the other to pull open the freezer door which was where I knew a few water bottles were kept, filled to the brim with ice cold liquid. I took out the one closest to me, hoping not all of it had changed over to ice yet. As I forced it into Sonny's mouth, I could see she was swallowing. Once again, I had lucked out.

Once she had a little bit more control, Sonny pushed away the bottle with her hands, gasping for the air I'd forgotten to give her a chance to breathe. The coughing resumed but this time only lasted for a few seconds. Her eyes were watering when she shook her head as I offered her the bottle again.

"That's the second coughing fit you've gone into," I reminded her. "Maybe you should stay home today."

"No, no, no," she protested, trying to give me a convincing smile. I didn't believe it for a second. "I'm sure the running was what set me off, that's all."

"Sonny, I really think-,"

"Haven't I already proved you're not getting rid of me, or my costume, so easily?" She started walking out of the kitchen, taking one last glance at me. "You can either drive me to the studio or let me steal your car and drive myself. Either way is fine with me."

"If you're only going for me, you might as well-,"

"You might be my boyfriend, but I'm going because my cast needs me, not because you do," she said in a firm voice. "Besides, I feel fine now. Can we just forget about the coughing thing, please?"

As much as I loved having Sonny at work with me (somehow acting was much easier knowing she was only several hundred feet away), I wasn't so sure she should've been going to the studio today. I knew better than to try fighting with her about it though and kept my mouth shut as I followed her to the parking lot.

It wouldn't have bothered me going one day at the studio without having Sonny there. No matter what, I was going to have her every day during Thanksgiving break.

For the first time in my life, I couldn't wait for a holiday to arrive.


	2. Homey Holidays

Hello again! Don't mind me, I'm just here to upload chapter one.

Disclaimer: I own Oscar - and I LOVE him!

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Homey Holidays

Chad was more than a little paranoid. After the coughing fits, he spent the whole drive to the studio asking me over and over again if I was alright and sure I felt good enough to go to work. Once we finally arrived (the drive seemed endless), he was at my side in seconds, his arm going around my waist as he pulled me tightly to him. He didn't stop talking the whole walk to the doors of my set.

"Enough," I told him once we came to a stop right outside the doors. "Do you see me going crazy every time you cough?"

"That wasn't just a cough," he protested. "They were coughing fits, and each time you went into one, you couldn't breathe afterwards. What if-,"

"I'm coming down with a cold and you're making way too big of a deal about it?" I finished his sentence.

"Sonny, I'm serious. What if it's not a cold you're getting? What if it's something worse? What if - you decide to ignore me and pull out your cell phone?"

His voice was angry but I couldn't really blame him for that. I would be mad if I was trying to talk to him about something and he pulled out his cell phone, too.

"I didn't take it out so I could ignore you," I explained, holding the screen up where he could see it. "I just wanted to prove we're both late, so we don't have time to fight about this right now.

It was with a sigh that Chad stepped away from me. He was worried about my condition but at the same time, he didn't want to be any later to his set than he had to be. We both knew how he hated being late.

I didn't see why he was so nervous about me anyway. So I'd gone into a few coughing fits. People coughed all the time and didn't worry about it at all. It was a normal human action, one that couldn't be stopped for an entire lifetime no matter if you took medicine for it or not. Chad was being over-cautious and although it was cute at first, now it was starting to annoy me.

Even as Chad started backing away from me, heading slowly in the direction of his set, his eyes never left mine. Knowing he was going to spend his morning doing nothing but worrying, I reached out for his hand.

"Come here," I said as I pulled him back to me, forcing him to stop on the stair beneath me (we were standing on the cement steps right outside the So Random! set). Wrapping my arms around his now below me shoulders, I leaned down to kiss him.

Just like my bedroom, I could feel my body going through a change as the kiss lengthened. My breath started to catch in my throat and I couldn't get enough air into them. The cough was returning, but this time, I refused to let it out. I kept my arms wrapped around him, using his body to keep mine from falling as the coughs kept trying to push their way out. If I pulled out of the kiss, Chad would do nothing but lecture me again. He had to be the one to break it this time.

'Why can't I breathe?' I asked myself, actually feeling myself start to go light-headed. 'Chad always has been able to take my breath away but this - this is crazy! He shouldn't be sending me into a coughing fit every time we kiss!'

I thought my lungs were going to collapse when I felt the kiss ending. Chad was smiling as he turned his attention to me, and I covered my mouth, trying to keep the coughs coming from it quiet enough he wouldn't hear. It must've worked because his smile never left.

"See?" I said once I was sure the cough was done. "No coughing. Now will you stop worrying about me?"

Instead of answering me, Chad placed a warm hand on my cheek, chuckling to himself. It wasn't until that moment I realized I was panting, trying to get the lost air back into my lungs.

"The greatness of Chad Dylan Cooper still leaves you breathless," he whispered, resting his head on my shoulder. "Never change, Munroe."

"Chad Dylan Cooper's going to be disappointing a lot of fans if he doesn't get to work on his own set."

He laughed as he gave my forehead one last kiss before running off, already shouting some threat about how his cast better be starting their warm-up. I didn't walk through the doors leading to my own set, instead sitting down against them, drawing my knees to my chest.

Could Chad be right? Was my breathlessness only because I was kissing him? How did that explain the cough? If I was right and it was only a cold, it was the strangest cold I'd ever had. The coughing had been going on for a few days, although it was worse now. I didn't have a stuffy nose, my eyes weren't turning red, my stomach wasn't upset, and I didn't have a temperature. Weren't those all signs of a cold?

Besides, I'd never had a cough sound like the one I had now. It was deeper than any of the others from colds before, and to be honest, I felt like I was coughing something up every time I went into a fit. Not wanting to run to a bathroom each time, usually I ended up just swallowing it. What would be coming up though? Drainage, maybe? How could it be drainage if I wasn't stuffed up at all?

There was no doubt in my mind as I sat there, my breath finally becoming normal again: something was wrong with me.

When I heard a voice calling out my name, I scrambled to my feet quickly. The last thing I needed was someone to see me sitting there and tell Chad about it, setting him off on another fit about me. Maybe something wasn't right, but I would figure it out on my own. There was no reason to make anyone else worry.

I was lucky I jumped to my feet when I had because no sooner than I was standing did the door my back had been against seconds ago fly open. Nico stood there, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Everyone's looking for you. We were supposed to start filming five minutes ago but you never showed up," he explained.

"Sorry," I apologized, walking past him to go through the door he was still holding open. "I lost track of time and-,"

I felt his hand on my arm, pulling me to a stop beside him.

"Sonny." I could hear the concern in his voice. "Are you alright? You look a little pale…"

"Nico, I'm really not in the mood to play 20 Questions," I replied tartly. "Can we just get to work?"

"Yeah, sure," Nico agreed, knowing by my tone I wasn't joking around. "Come on, everyone's waiting in the Prop House."

Instantly I felt bad for snapping at Nico. It wasn't his fault Chad had already bothered me enough about my health to drive me crazy for one day. He was just checking on me, trying to make sure I was ok. I was just opening my mouth to apologize to him when we walked into the Prop House-

I could feel my jaw drop as I stopped in the doorway, Nico running around me so he could watch my reaction.

It was the last day of work before Thanksgiving break started and although I begged my cast to have a party on our last day together, they'd been less than enthused with the idea. I figured it was going to be just like any other day: I would arrive on the set, film with my cast mates, and then we'd have the rest of the day to hang out with each other. I never dreamed we would have a party.

And yet, as I stood in the doorway of the Prop House, it looked like we were having a party. Decorations were everywhere, including streamers, pictures of Indians and pilgrims, and hands traced to make turkeys. A table was set up with tons of food on it (mainly candy corn and corn on the cob), and in the back of the room was a huge robot turkey who gobbled at me.

Nico and Grady stood by the food table, their arms around each other as they waited to see my reaction. Zora stood near the giant turkey, some sort of remote I guessed was for it in her hands. Tawni was the only one sitting on the couch, not paying attention at all as she filed her nails.

"What is all this?" I asked, my voice sounding surprised.

"We knew how excited you were about Thanksgiving," Grady explained, "So we decided to throw you a surprise party! Nico and I were in charge of the food-,"

"I was in charge of looking pretty!" Tawni added on, smiling at me long enough to flip a strand of blonde hair over her shoulder.

"They put me in charge of decorations!" Zora exclaimed, waving her arm wildly in the air as though I hadn't been able to see her as far away as she was standing. "Want to see what the turkey I built can do?"

Without waiting for me to answer, Zora pushed something on her remote, the turkey climbed to its feet, and Nico and Grady ran for cover behind me as the huge bird started running through the room. Stray feathers flew out behind it, scattering around the room as it kept shouting out, "Gobble, gobble, gobble!"

The turkey ran past the food table, circled around the spot Nico, Grady, and I were standing, and ended up by the couch, sticking its long neck into Tawni's face. She screamed, through her nail file into the air as she jumped to her feet, and the turkey caught the flying item in its beak, swallowing it whole.

"Hey!" Tawni protested, whirling around to face Zora. "Your stupid chicken ate my nail file!"

While her back was turned, the turkey head-butted her, nearly making Tawni fall to the floor. I laughed with the other three members of my cast, the tween queen not joining in.

"You can't blame me for that one," Zora said when the older girl glared at her. "He hates being called a chicken!"

Before a fight could start, I ran to Tawni's side, grabbing her arm with both of my hands.

"I know what will cheer you up, Tawn!" I exclaimed, pulling her toward the photo booth. "Taking pictures of yourself! Come on, everyone, let's take some Thanksgiving pictures together!"

Everyone followed Tawni and me into the photo booth, Zora bringing up the rear. When the turkey tried to stick his head in as well, the youngest girl scolded him.

"You need to wait out there, Oscar," she ordered.

"Oscar?" Nico repeated. "You named your robot?"

"Of course I did! Who doesn't name their own robots?"

There was no good response to that question. None of us knew anyone who built robots, so how were we supposed to know if they were usually named or not?

"You do realize that thing can't stay in the Prop House, right?" Tawni asked, still glaring at Oscar.

"He can if we use him in a sketch," Zora protested.

"What sketch would we possibly use a huge robot turkey named Oscar in?" Grady asked, looking confused.

"What sketch wouldn't we use him in?"

"You guys!" I was laughing as I shouted over their fight, too happy to really be mad (how could anyone be mad as they listened to their best friends fighting about something as weird as a robot turkey?). "Let's stop fighting and start posing! Oscar, get your head in here; this is your day to celebrate, too!"

I posed with the other members of my cast (and a random turkey head) as the photo booth took our pictures over and over again. I was never going to forget this Thanksgiving!

* * *

"I wish you would've come down to the set today, mom! You would've loved meeting Oscar!"

Sonny had invited me over to her house to spend our first night of freedom watching movies together. Even though I'd been there for at least an hour, no movie was playing yet. She couldn't stop going on and on about the party her cast had thrown her.

When none of the So Random! cast had shown up at lunch time, I was about to wander over to the set to find out why when Sonny skipped into the cafeteria. She didn't go to the food line but rather came straight to my table, taking my hand in one of hers, Portlyn's in the other. Saying something about wanting us to meet Oscar, she dragged us to the Prop House.

'Oscar' ended up being a robot turkey Zora had made for the party. Portlyn looked just as confused as I felt when she stared at the turkey and I knew the same question was going through both of our minds: what was so great about having a robotic turkey? Sonny seemed to find it hilarious though and I only laughed along for her benefit.

Now I found myself on the same couch I'd been sitting on earlier in the morning, bored out of my mind. Mrs. Munroe was in the kitchen, cleaning up the dinner dishes, and Sonny had been sitting beside me until she said she would be right back. She'd disappeared into the kitchen and I could hear her telling her mom all about the party that had ended up lasting all day.

I'd already had a play-by-play about the party when I picked Sonny up after work. Honestly, I was happy she'd moved on to telling her mom instead of me. I was getting a little sick of hearing the same stories over and over again. Ok, so her cast had thrown her a surprise Thanksgiving party. What did she want me to do, jump up to the bat and do something even better?

She already knew what I had planned for our Thanksgiving together. Wasn't six nights with me better than one surprise party?

Both girls came into the living room at the same time, Mrs. Munroe pushing Sonny forward, sending me a desperate look behind her daughter's back. I understood the look completely: help me! She won't stop talking! Oblivious to what her mother was really thinking, Sonny went on blabbing away, the pictures from the Prop House still in her hands. I climbed to my feet quickly.

"Sonny," I said happily, running over to the case where I knew the DVD's were kept. "Why don't we start that movie you invited me over to watch?"

"I don't know," Sonny replied, glancing over her shoulder. "I was just telling mom about-,"

"Mom has work to do in the kitchen," Mrs. Munroe cut her off, sending me a relieved smile. "You and Chad can go ahead and start your movie, honey. I can wait to hear about the party until later."

Sonny still didn't look sure, but she shrugged her shoulders anyway and flopped onto the couch.

"Fine," she gave in with a sigh. "What movie are we watching?"

"How about Mackenzie Falls?" I suggested, holding up the box I'd given Sonny for Christmas last year with special edition copies not released to anyone else. "The entire first season?"

"I'm more in a happy mood tonight than a drama one," Sonny protested. "Can we watch So Random! instead?"

"Ah, but Mackenzie Falls has drama and humor."

"I guess you're right…if you call your acting humor."

"Sonny."

"Chad."

"Be nice."

"The day Chad Dylan Cooper can lecture someone about being nice is the day pigs will fly."

Mrs. Munroe was sneaking out of the room while she had the chance. I stood over by the DVD player long enough to put in Mackenzie Falls season one, disc one, and after making sure Mrs. Munroe was to the kitchen door, almost out of ear-shot, I joined Sonny on the couch. She was leaning down instead of sitting up straight, so it was easy for me to lean over her, not helping but smile when she did first to me.

"You know, that's the same thing you said before," I whispered, hoping against all hope her mom wouldn't turn around and see us. "You said we wouldn't kiss until the day pigs fly."

"Technically, I did wait for pigs to fly," she stated. When I gave her a puzzled look, she went on. "Don't you remember the day you guest-starred on my show? That pig of Nico and Grady's flew into my arms."

"That wasn't a flying pig! It fell onto a trampoline!"

"And then it flew into my arms."

"Just admit it, Sonny. You ended up falling for me and kissed me, going against your own words."

"How about you just admit I waited until I saw a flying pig?"

"Why don't you-,"

I didn't get in another word because that was when Sonny started coughing again. I moved aside, giving her room to breathe. Mrs. Munroe was back by the couch within seconds.

"How long have you been coughing like that?" she demanded.

"That was the first time, mom," Sonny lied smoothly.

It amazed me sometimes how easily lying came for Sonny. She was always so happy and bubbly that it seemed like she would never need, or want, to lie in the first place. Seeing how easily she did to her own mother made me wonder how many times she'd done it to me. I would like to think I knew her a little better than that, that I would recognize a lie right away…But in reality, would I be able to?

Mrs. Munroe could tell something was wrong with Sonny's answer. Her eyes narrowed, but Sonny avoided looking into them, keeping her own gaze straight ahead. Mrs. Munroe turned her attention to me.

"How long has she really been coughing?" she asked.

The way I saw it, I had two options here: 1. Side with my girlfriend, who was now looking at me, her eyes staring into mine as she silently ordered me to go alone with her words. 2. Side with my girlfriend's mother, who had mastered the death glare Sonny was getting better and better at every day.

Gulping nervously, I said the first sentence I could manage to stutter out.

"T-That was the first t-time."

It came out sounding more like a question than a statement. Mrs. Munroe must've noticed that because she never let her gaze off me.

"Chad."

"It was the first time…tonight?"

Not saying another word, Mrs. Munroe turned her back on the two of us and headed into the kitchen, letting the door swing shut behind her. Thinking I was out of hot water, I put my arm around Sonny's shoulders.

"You're supposed to be on my side," she said, her voice angry.

"Your mom asked me a question, I gave her an honest answer!" I poked her side, knowing it usually made her laugh. This time, all she did was turn her attention to the TV.

"Are you mad at me?"

Silence was my answer.

"Sonny, you know if I lie to your mom, she's not going to trust me and I won't be able to come over as much as I do now."

There was still no answer.

"On second thought," I started as I climbed to my feet, walking back over to the DVD's, "Why don't we watch So Random!"

It wasn't until I had the DVDs switched and was sitting on the couch again that Sonny finally spoke.

"I just want you to know it's your fault if something bad happens," she said, but her eyes stayed ahead and for a second I wondered if she was muttering to herself instead of talking to me. "If my mom goes off into a panic attack and does something stupid, I'm blaming you."

"What could your mom possibly do?" I asked with a laugh.

Sonny's face was serious when she finally looked at me.

"You have no idea."

* * *

I knew it was midnight because mom came out of the kitchen, telling me it was time to tell Chad goodnight. Normally I would let her kick him out at midnight without fighting with her simply because it was an agreement we had. He leaves, I don't complain, my curfew never gets earlier. Since it was the first day of break, I might've been able to get Chad a few more hours, but I was still a little angry at him for telling mom about my coughing.

The coughing was a problem I wanted to figure out on my own. There had to be some reason behind it whether I was coming down with some weird flu or something like that, but I knew having mom know about it wasn't going to help. She would become just as annoying as Chad had been in the morning-

Only she would have actions behind her worry.

As Chad and I stood in the hallway outside my apartment like we did every time we said goodbye, it was with a dry voice that I answered yes when he asked if he would see me tomorrow. He leaned down to kiss me but I turned my head at the last second, leaving him with nothing but a mouth full of my hair.

"I'm sorry, Sonny," he sighed one last time, placing his hand on my shoulder. "I still think I did the right thing by telling your mom the truth."

"In that case, I'm sorry, too."

Shaking his head, Chad started down the hall. I thought about calling out to him, begging him to stop. I thought about running to him and giving him the kiss both of us desired. Deciding against it, I headed back into my apartment instead. There was always tomorrow to make up with Chad; I could be mad for a night.

It was almost as though I pulled some kind of trigger. I opened the door, took one step inside, and the phone started ringing.

"Maybe you should answer that," mom called, sitting on the couch Chad and I had occupied all night, flipping through a magazine. "I have a feeling it's for you."

"Chad just left," I argued. "Who else would call me? Besides, it's the house phone ringing; anyone I know would call my cell."

"Did you ever think it might not be Chad? Maybe it's one of your other friends. Or maybe it's a doctor." Mom brought her finger to her chin in a pretend thoughtful expression. "Oh wait a minute. No, a doctor wouldn't call here. The sick person has to call them if they want to feel better, not the other way around."

Knowing exactly where her lecture was going, I decided answering the phone was better than listening to whatever she had to say.

"Hello?" I said as the phone rang what had to be one of the final times.

"Well, if it isn't my little Sonshine!"

I knew that voice anywhere. Despite my anger at Chad, I could feel myself smiling as I shouted out the person's name, or at least what I'd been calling him my whole life:

"Daddy!"

With the high phone bills after calling home to Wisconsin, I only got to talk to my dad about once a month. It was fun to talk to him and tell him what it was like starring on a TV show, but it wasn't the same as being in the same room with him and laughing around. We both had the same sense of humor and although I loved my mom, I was a daddy's girl at heart. He and I spent hours at a time laughing at jokes no one but the two of us understood and enjoyed doing many of the same activities together. I missed him more than I missed all my friends.

It was certainly a surprise to be hearing from dad tonight. Our monthly phone call usually took place the first Sunday in that month, although mom had promised me an extra one for November so I could talk to dad on Thanksgiving. It was neither Sunday or Thanksgiving; was I being tricked?

"I miss seeing you every day, Sonshine," dad went on, his voice sounding a little bit too joyful. "How would you and your mom like to celebrate Thanksgiving at home this year?"

"I would love to!" I exclaimed happily before thinking back to the Mackenzie Falls actor who had left less than five minutes ago. "But I can't. Chad and I already have plans. Maybe mom and I can make it there for Christmas?"

"You don't need to hang out with that boyfriend of yours every second, do you? Besides, you might get sick if you're out with him every day and night. There are a lot of bugs going around right now."

I finally understood why I was getting a phone call tonight.

"Mom called you, didn't she?" I asked. When there was no answer, I sighed loudly. "Look, dad, I don't know what mom told you, but I'm not sick. She's just getting all worried because I coughed one time."

"Whether you're sick or not, I still want to see you," dad finally spoke again. "Your mother and I already talked about it, Sonny, and we agreed now would be as good a time as any for the two of you to come home."

My mouth fell open and for a long moment, I wasn't quite sure what to say.

"But - but…"

"Glad to see you agree with us," dad went on when I couldn't form a coherent sentence. "I'll let you go so you can start packing, Sonshine. You're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning!"

The dial tone sounded in my ear.

As I hung up the phone, glaring at mom as she continued to flip through her magazine, pretending not to notice me, I knew who was to really blame for the change of plans. If Chad had just lied like I'd asked him to do, mom never would've called dad and they wouldn't have decided it was time for me to go home.

Who was I kidding? I wasn't mad at Chad. He had done the right thing by telling mom the truth, and he'd been right when annoying me by bugging me to stay home from work.

I wasn't mad at Chad at all. Was I mad about not getting to spend Thanksgiving with him like he'd planned on the two of us doing? Was I mad at myself for wasting my last night with him by being such a jerk instead of enjoying my time?

There were tears in my eyes as I rushed to my room, slamming my door behind me. Collapsing onto my bed, I grabbed the pillow nearest to me and used it to muffle my angry shout. It looked like I was dealing with two problems this holiday: the annoying cough that wouldn't leave me alone and having to go seven days without Chad Dylan Cooper.

Could life be any worse?


	3. Sunday Surprises

If I remember, this is the chapter where people said Sonny was OCC. Well, in my defense, we don't get to see her angry very much on the show, so it's kind of hard to know how she would react when angry. Sorry if you find her OOC in this chapter - she gets better in the next one!

Thanks for taking the time to read/review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the quote from Chad's birthday episode in season one.

* * *

Sunday Surprises

It was Sunday morning, the first morning in my week of recreating when I had asked Sonny out. I knew she was mad at me about telling her mom the truth the night before, but I was hoping she'd gotten over her anger during the night. Just in case she hadn't, I texted Portlyn bright and early, asking what I could do to apologize to Sonny.

For some reason, I never got an answering text. Instead of waiting around for her, I drove to a 24 hour store, searching for something, anything, that had Sonny's name written over it, an item I could buy for her that would say how sorry I was. I wanted to start our week off on the right foot.

I was giving up on trying to find the perfect peace offering. None of the cards seemed to say the right words and I had no idea what to say if I bought a blank one. Flowers and candy seemed cliché and I'd already given her an autographed photo of me as an apology once.

Normally I would've waited until later in the day to go shopping, but I couldn't fall asleep during the night and knew I wouldn't be able to until Sonny was no longer mad at me. The only way to make her not be angry was to show up on her doorstep with some way of saying sorry. The only way I could think of to express my guilt was by buying her a present.

Didn't the store understand my need to find the perfect item? Couldn't it make an answer fall from the sky?

Just as I was getting ready to leave the store with empty hands, I spotted something from the corner of my eye. In a huge display area near the exit, a load of Thanksgiving supplies were set up, a few of which included paper plates with pictures of Turkeys on them, paper cut-outs of Indians and pilgrims, and even coloring pages for younger kids. None of that was what made me step closer to the display.

My eyes honed in on the huge stuffed turkey sitting atop everything else, its legs hanging down almost to the floor. It was the biggest stuffed animal I'd ever seen and I knew it was perfect for Sonny. Not only could I use it to hide behind as I told her how sorry I was, but it would also show her how Thanksgiving-y I could act.

Almost an hour later (it took a lot of work to drag that turkey all the way up to Sonny's apartment; it wasn't light by any means), I was finally able to knock on the door I'd been wanting to knock on since walking out not many hours ago. I heard the door open but from my spot behind the turkey, I couldn't see who was standing there. Hoping it was Sonny, I said the line I'd been practicing since leaving the store:

"I have a feathery hug to deliver to a certain Munroe!"

"Please tell me that stuffed turkey didn't just speak."

I could feel my face turning red as I rushed out from behind the stuffed animal, recognizing the voice I'd heard. Sure enough, Mrs. Munroe was the one standing in the doorway, not Sonny. She took one look at me, turned her attention back to the turkey, and ended up shaking her head.

"Some questions are better left unasked," she said before walking back into the apartment, leaving the door open behind her. "Sonny, there's a turkey waiting for you at the door!"

After hearing a voice repeat, "A turkey?" in a very confused tone, Sonny appeared in the spot her mother had just stood, her mouth hanging open in shock. I smiled at her, patting the stuffed animal's side.

"I named him Oscar, Jr.," I explained proudly.

Sonny looked back and forth between the turkey and me, her mouth never closing, as though she was trying to figure out exactly what was going on. I wondered if maybe I was wrong, that she hadn't gotten over her anger during the night and the turkey wasn't enough to make her forgive me now.

"I can take him back," I told her, my hands already on Oscar, Jr.'s side as I prepared to push him down the hall. "I'll take him back to the store right now and-,"

"Chad, wait."

Her hand lightly touched my back as she came up behind me, her smile gentle as she stepped behind my body and Oscar, Jr.'s. She had to duck under my arms to get to her spot and once she was there, it wasn't hard to get me to move. Her hands slid their way beneath mine and before I knew what I was doing, my hands were swinging hers back and forth, back and forth.

"I don't want you to take him back," she said before glancing at him over her shoulder. "Well…not unless you're bringing back a smaller version. I love him, I really do, although I don't deserve him at all. I never should've gotten mad at you last night, you didn't even do anything! It was all my fault and I'm so, so sorr-,"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as I let my lips fall over hers. She seemed surprised at first (usually I gave her warning before leaning down and doing it), but it didn't take her long to adjust. Her hands gripped my shirt and she pulled me even closer to her, not needing to ask me twice. I moved in until her body was pressed against the turkey and just as I started running my hands through her hair-

"Sonny, have you finished packing yet?"

Our moment over, Sonny pulled away from me. It didn't hit me until then that she was already fully dressed. Her eyes were red-rimmed and whether it was from crying or lack of sleep I couldn't be sure. Either way, I found my arms wrapping around her.

"Packing?" I repeated her mom's shout. "Sonny…why are you packing?"

I had a feeling I knew the answer even before Sonny could say anything. She stalled, taking her time to think of the right words. Her gaze stayed on the floor instead of meeting my eyes and her hands sat nervously at her stomach, twisting together and then separating again. Needing to know the answer, I put my hands over hers, forcing them to stay still.

"Sonny." My voice was firm this time. "Why are you being forced to pack?"

Stepping into the hallway to drop a suitcase off at Sonny's side, Mrs. Munroe heard the last part of my question. She stopped and turned to her daughter.

"You didn't tell him about our Thanksgiving plans?" she asked, shock in her voice.

"No," Sonny replied, her teeth clenched together. Was she angry at her mom instead of me now? "I haven't had the chance to yet."

"Oh." Mrs. Munroe smiled at me a little too sweetly. "We're heading back to Wisconsin to spend Thanksgiving with our family. Actually, we were just getting ready to head out the door so Sonny, if you could hurry up this goodbye…"

It was my mouth's turn to hang open as Mrs. Munroe started down the hallway, leaving nothing but the suitcase she'd sat on the floor. She stopped after a few feet, took one last look at Oscar, Jr., and shook her head.

"That thing isn't riding in the car with us."

Sonny picked up the suitcase, starting off in the same direction her mom was heading. I ran to her side.

"You're really going back to Wisconsin?" I demanded, trying to keep up with her fast pace. "Why do you have to go? What about our plans?"

"We could still do our plans if someone hadn't gotten my mom worried enough to call my dad last night and tell him how sick I am."

"Your mom really did that? Just because I told her that wasn't the first time you coughed?"

"I warned you last night she was probably going to do something stupid." She stopped walking long enough to take a deep breath. "Look, I'm trying my best to leave on a good note, so I'm saying goodbye now before I end up taking my anger out on you. Let everyone know I'm gone and wish them all a happy holiday."

Just like that, she started down the hallway again, leaving me behind.

"Wait! I-,"

"Chad." Her eyes looked as though they were swelling with tears when she turned to face me. "Please don't make this harder than it has to be."

A car horn sounded from the parking lot, Sonny took a few steps backwards, and I could see the tear shining as it rolled down the side of her face.

"I'll see you in seven days," she whispered, her voice so quiet that I needed to read her lips to understand what she was saying.

With that, she was gone, running down the hall and disappearing from my sight. I wanted to follow her, but she'd asked me not to and I didn't want make her upset. As much as my heart was breaking, there was nothing I could do about it.

Not knowing what else to do, I sat down next to Oscar, Jr., pulling my cell phone from my pocket. I decided to do the simple task Sonny had asked me to do: let everyone know she was leaving and hoped they all had a happy Thanksgiving. It was the least I could do for her after scaring her mom into calling home. If it weren't for my inability to lie, she would still be with me instead of starting the long drive home.

Not knowing Nico and Grady very well and barely knowing Zora at all, I thought calling Tawni would be my best bet. I talked to her every now and then and she could pass on the message to the rest of her cast mates.

"Hello?" her tired voice answered after several rings.

"Sonny's on her way to Wisconsin."

There was a long moment of silence.

"You're kidding me, right?" Tawni's voice sounded like a cross between anger and hysterics. "You didn't really call me at five o'clock in the morning just to tell me Sonny's gone…did you?"

"Of course not! I also called to tell you she wishes you a happy Thanksgiving."

Tawni started laughing. Not in a 'gee, that's funny!' sort of way but more like 'is the whole world going crazy except for me?'

"Here's a really goofy question!" she said in an enthused voice. "Why are you talking to me instead of following after your girlfriend?"

"I'm not going after her because…because…."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, Tawni had asked a good question: why wasn't I going after Sonny? It wasn't like I didn't have the time or the money to go to Wisconsin. And I had promised myself I was going to spend every day with her during Thanksgiving break. Even if her parents didn't want me staying at their house, I had plenty of money to rent a place for only seven days.

Why was I sitting by myself in a silent hallway with no one but Oscar, Jr. for company? I should've been checking flight times!

"I've got to go," I told Tawni, getting ready to hang up when I heard her voice.

"Uh, hold up a minute," she said and I pulled the phone back to my ear, my finger already resting near the end button, shaking as I waited for her to finish. "If you ever call me at five AM again, Chad…you're seriously going to suffer."

I hung up with a smile on my face, eager to call the airport. I was going to Wisconsin for the first time in my life!

* * *

I'd forgotten how long the drive to Wisconsin was.

There wasn't a lot to do in the car but stare out the window as the scenery flew by. Mom tried to make conversation, but when all I wanted to talk about was how it was her fault I couldn't spend Thanksgiving with Chad she warned me I would spend my entire vacation locked in my room if I kept up my attitude. Needless to say, that talk ended pretty quickly.

When night finally came, I crawled into the backseat of the car so I could stretch out with my pillow, wrapping a blanket around my body. The coughing resumed and I wasn't sure why this time, although I guessed it was me gettingused to the colder tempts. The longer we were on the road, the colder it became outside. I was going to miss the heat of Hollywood.

The sun flooding in through the window was what woke me up in the morning. We stopped at a fast food restaurant long enough to eat breakfast and walk around so our legs wouldn't cramp up, and then mom and I were in the car again. Unable to take the silence anymore, I called my best friend.

Lucy squealed with delight as soon as she heard my voice. Dad had already told her about me coming home and she informed me she had been invited to stay at my house the duration of the time I'd be there and would be spending Thanksgiving with the Munroe family instead of her own.

'Well, at least if I can't have Chad, I get to have her,' I thought to myself as she went on and on about how great the week was going to be.

We'd been on the phone for almost an hour before Lucy's voice changed.

"I thought you said you were the only one coming to Wisconsin?" she asked, her voice sounding confused. "Didn't you say everyone else is staying in Hollywood?"

"The rest of them are staying in Hollywood," I told her. "Why would they be coming back with me? None of them live in Wisconsin."

"Then why is…" Lucy's voice trailed off. When she finally spoke again, it was in a fast tone. "Sorry, Sonny, I'll talk to you when you get here. I have to go, bye!"

"What? Lucy, what's going on? Please don't hang up, I need-,"

I was too late. She'd hung up and a dial tone sounded in my ear.

"Maybe if you called her sometimes instead of wasting all your time with your Hollywood friends, she wouldn't be so rude," mom said, watching as I hung up my phone. "You know I support you and So Random! I just don't think you should completely forget about your life in Wisconsin."

"Yeah, well, you and dad are making it pretty much impossible for me to forget."

"Sonny…"

"I know, I know," I sighed, folding my arms over my chest. "Shut up now or I'm grounded."

Why couldn't Lucy have stayed on the phone? At least there were only a little while left in the drive. Already the heat was on in the car and I had bumps on my arms as my body heat tried to readjust. I'd kept myself from getting grounded so far; I could last the rest of the time.

The real question was rather or not I could go six more days without seeing Chad Dylan Cooper.

* * *

My private airplane pilot seemed surprised when I told him to land the plane.

"Are you sure you don't want me to look around and find an actual airport or landing dock?" he asked.

"Nope," I told him, shaking my head back and forth. "Just land in that grassy area over there. I think I can find where I need to go."

It hadn't taken me very long to find Sonny's old address. Typing in Sonny Munroe on any search engine gave me tons of results (although Chad Dylan Cooper, Mackenzie, and CDC all had more) and all I had to do was find the website of some crazy stalker fan who seemed to know every detail about her. Hoping they'd managed to get her home address correct, it was the coordinates I handed to my pilot.

And now, the house with the address owned the backyard my plane was using as a landing site.

There was one person who came running outside as I got off my plane. It was a very small welcoming compared to what I was used to, but then again, coming to Wisconsin had been a last minute decision. None of the reporters knew I was here yet so I hadn't really expected them to meet me.

Still…only one person? That had to be an all time low for a Chad Dylan Cooper welcoming party.

The person running toward me stopped, screamed a little bit too loudly, and stood in her spot, dancing from foot to foot. Something about her seemed familiar (which was weird considering I'd never met anyone in Sonny's family beside her mom). Had I landed at the wrong house? Was the fan site wrong?

"Uh, excuse me?" I tried to sound nice in case it was a Munroe, knowing I should at least try to make a good first impression after landing an airplane in their yard. "Do you know if Sonny's here yet? Or if this is even the right place to find her?"

Instead of answering either of my questions, the girl ran toward me, giggling uncontrollably as she jumped into my arms. I had no choice but to let her hug me, her entire body shaking in excitement.

"I can't believe it's you! Sonny didn't say anything about you coming here! I was just on the phone with her and asked her outright if you were coming or not and she said no, but then I saw the airplane starting to land-,"

"She doesn't know I'm coming," I tried to explain, not sure if she could hear me over her chatter or not. "I'm trying to surprise her."

"Oh, she'll be surprised all right! Do you remember me? You probably don't, I only talked to you like two or three times, I even went to your Chad-tastic birthday party a few years back! I'm the one who hugged Sonny and knocked her into one of your cardboard cut-outs, which in turn made all of them fall and forced your head into your cake!"

I could remember that birthday party like it had happened yesterday. The last one before Sonny and I started going out, forever in my memory as the one Sonny had said no to. I could still remember her reason behind saying no, too:

"_Well, see…my best friend is in town," Sonny had said after telling me the horrible news. I felt like my heart was breaking in two. _

"_So?" I scoffed, trying to make it sound like I didn't care. "Bring her to the party!" Then, realizing I was using my high voice, I cleared my throat, hoping Sonny hadn't noticed. "That just means two gifts."_

Even after that, Sonny had still said she wasn't coming. Faintly, I could remember walking out of the Prop House, my cardboard cut-out in hand, bumping into someone as I tried to walk out…

Suddenly, it clicked: I had met the reason behind Sonny's refusal, the best friend she wanted to hang out with instead of me.

That was why the girl staring up at me, waiting to see if I remembered her or not, looked so familiar.

"Oh, yeah!" I said, smiling at her. "You're the 'oh my Chad!' girl!"

Her insane giggle escaped through her lips again.

"Chad Dylan Cooper remembers what I said!" she exclaimed.

Wrapping her arms around my waist, she hugged me tighter than before, jumping up and down with enough force to pull me along for the ride. Wanting her to let go, I put my hands on her shoulders, trying to keep her firmly on the ground-

A throat clearing behind me let me know I was in trouble.

There stood Sonny, her hands on her hips as she looked at Lucy and me, her eyebrows raised.

I had a feeling I wasn't going to be able to buy my way out with a huge stuffed turkey this time.


	4. Starlit Skies

One review you guys? ONE? Haha, just kidding. I'm not upset. Like I said, reviews don't matter this time around. I just want to get this story up as quick as possible.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!

* * *

Starlit Skies

I had no idea how long I stood there, not daring to step any closer to Chad and Lucy. My shock had taken over me; I wasn't so sure I could've moved even if I wanted to. So many questions were going through my mind.

What was Chad doing in Wisconsin? How had he beaten me in arriving at my house, or, more importantly, how had he found out where I lived? Did the plane behind him have anything to do with his sudden appearance? And then there was the biggest question of all:

Why were he and Lucy locked in an embrace?

As though they were both in a state of shock, too, neither Chad or Lucy moved away from each other. Both of their heads turned in my direction, but besides two mouths falling, nothing changed. Lucy kept her arms around Chad's waist and his hands stayed on her shoulders.

It was like the three of us were trapped in some sort of horror movie and someone had hit pause on us, wanting a chance to study our reactions at the plot's climax. I could only guess what the viewer saw on my face.

Lucy was the first one to start moving again. Staring up at Chad like she was just realizing her position, she jumped away, putting about ten feet between their bodies. Chad took several steps back as well, his hand nervously rubbing his neck as he avoided my eyes. I was the only one still stuck on pause as Lucy looked at me, her confusion as she tried to think of the best action to do next clear on her face.

"Sonny!" she cried in fake enthusiasm. When I didn't say anything back, she nodded toward my house. "I, uh, think I hear your parents calling me…Bye!"

She took off running, leaving Chad and me alone.

"I know this looks bad, but remember that one time you kissed that guy and I didn't listen to you when you tried to tell me it was his fault, not yours?" Chad laughed nervously. I couldn't find the strength to form a reply. "Are you going to believe me that was all your friend's fault and I was trying to push her away or are we going to have the same fight we had back then?"

When I continued to stay silent, Chad glanced at the plane over his shoulder. Putting his attention back to me, he held out his hand.

"Want to go on a private flight?"

* * *

I thought I was going to be in hot water after Sonny had caught the hug between Lucy and me. Sure, it hadn't been my fault so Sonny shouldn't have gotten mad at me anyway, but the second I offered to let her ride on my plane, her face broke out into a smile. It was like she'd forgotten everything the second her hand slipped into mine.

Although the plane was the best Hollywood had for me to rent on such short notice, it was still fairly small. There was no divider between the passengers and pilot and one small bench laid against the back wall with only two seatbelts on it. Despite the meekness of it all, Sonny seemed to be having the time of her life.

For the first half of the ride, her hands and nose pressed against her window. Every few seconds she would shout out something she wanted me to look out my window and notice.

"Look at that!" she cried out on several occasions. "I can't believe how small everything looks from up here! What's that tiny little dot?"

I turned my attention to the window beside me, trying to figure out what dot she was talking about.

"Do you mean that person walking?" I asked.

We were high in the air, but not high enough she shouldn't have been able to recognize the trees and houses and cars. The lady walking her dog down the street was the only 'dot' I could make sense of her needing to ask about.

"That's a person?" Sonny's voice was full of amazement. "How can you tell?"

"Well, I don't know much about Wisconsin, but I'm assuming you don't let random aliens roam around freely."

Sonny looked away from her window long enough to glare at me.

"Ha, ha," she stated dryly.

'Ha, ha'? Maybe she really was sick like her mom seemed to think. She always had something more to say than just two words, usually so many words that I could barely say anything back. Perhaps she was-

Too busy to speak because she was unfastening her seatbelt.

"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded as she climbed to her feet. "Sit back down before I have my pilot land right here!"

"I'll sit down when I feel like sitting down."

"I'm not messing around here, Sonny."

"Neither am I, Chad."

Instead of waiting for me to say anything else, Sonny crossed the short distance between her seat and the pilot's. Putting her hands on the back of his chair, I watched as her mouth fell open as she stared out the front window in awe.

"Come here, Chad," she encouraged me, not bothering to turn around as she lifted a hand, motioning for me to come. "The view is so much more beautiful!"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather keep my own beautiful face than risk it just to look at some scenery."

"What are you so afraid of? It's just a plane, it's not like anything bad is going to - ahh!"

For some reason, the pilot grabbed his controls, the plane started going up instead of forward, and Sonny lost her grip on the seat. She fell to the ground, rolling backwards in a tuck-and-roll style. Right before she would've slammed into my legs, I reached down, stopping her roll and pulling her out of the ball she'd curled into, placing my hands under her arms as I pulled her gently into my lap.

"And there's the reasoning behind never standing up while in a moving plane," I whispered as her face turned a dark shade of red. She pushed away from me and went back to her own seat, mumbling something about jerk-throbs who thought they knew everything.

It wasn't until the sun had gone down (meaning the one outside the window and the one using the glass as a pillow) that Sonny decided it was time to play 20 Questions. Her eyes didn't open as she asked her first question and at first I thought she was just talking in her sleep.

"Why did you come here?"

Her body was stretched out along the bench we shared, her feet resting on my legs. Figuring she was talking because of a dream, I didn't answer her, instead taking my coat off my shoulders and placing it over her body. I hadn't given her any time to change before we'd climbed into the plane and the lightweight jacket she'd used for traveling didn't look very warm. The last thing she needed was for her cough to come back.

Only a few seconds went by after I'd draped the coat over her before I felt a hard kick in my shin. To my surprise, when I turned my attention to her face, her chocolate brown eyes were open.

"I asked you a question, Chad," she explained, her voice sounding more teasing than angry. "You care enough about me to make sure I stay warm but not to talk to me?"

"Sorry," I apologized quickly. "I thought you were talking to the dream version of me."

She scoffed as though she'd never heard a dumber idea.

"I may be really tired from all the traveling I did today, but I'm not falling asleep until I'm in my nice, warm bed," she started to say before kicking me again. "And even if I was sleeping, what makes you think I'd be dreaming about you?"

I returned her scoff.

"When people have dreams, they're normally about the perfect life that person secretly desires," I answered her question. "You already have me in real life; what's better than having me in your dreams as well?"

Sonny laughed, shaking her lazy head back and forth, a few strands of hair sticking to the window as she did so. I wanted to laugh; a few pieces of brown were standing up like she'd just been shocked. Luckily, I was able to hold my laughter in. I had a feeling a sleepy Sonny wasn't my best prop for comedy.

"You're so conceited," she informed me, like I didn't already know.

"Then why are you dating me?"

"That's a question I ask myself every day."

She laughed again, stopping abruptly when I slapped her leg. It wasn't hard enough to really hurt her but apparently it did sting a little if the glare she sent my way was any indication.

"Seriously though, Cooper. What are you doing in Wisconsin?" she asked, all laughter out of her voice. Before I could even open my mouth to start forming my answer, she lifted her head so I could witness her narrowing eyes. "If you say one word about being here to meet up with Lucy, I swear I'll-,"

"Who's Lucy?" I cut her off.

This time, I caught Sonny's foot before it could kick me, holding it captive in my hands (she would've done the same thing if I'd been kicking her. She still had her shoes on, high heels nonetheless).

"Hey! I might've deserved the other kicks, but I didn't do anything this time!"

"'Who's Lucy?'" Now she sounded angry as she tried to pull her foot from my grasp. "We both know that you know the answer to that question! You seemed to know who she was pretty well a few hours ago!"

"Oh. You're talking about the loud screaming girl." I paused long enough to put down Sonny's foot, letting it rest peacefully in my lap again. "Do you really think I would've rented a plane, searched for your house address, and flown all the way here in a rush to beat you if I was trying to meet up with your friend?"

My answer seemed to satisfy Sonny. She took a strand of hair not stuck to the window and started twisting it around her finger.

"Tell me again why you were hugging her earlier?"

"I'm Chad Dylan Cooper. No girl can resist my charm!"

When the pointy shoe raised into the air again, I changed my answer.

"She came rushing out of your house when she saw the plane, asked me if I remembered her, and freaked out when I said I did. The hugging all came from her. I only tried to calm her down."

Once again, my answer seemed to fly.

"Where are you staying while you're here?" she changed the topic.

"I'm sure I'll be able to find a hotel after I drop you off at home. I am Chad-,"

"Dylan Cooper," she finished for me, moving my jacket so she could reach into her pocket. "I think we've established that more than one time since leaving the ground."

The plane fell silent other then the sound of the engine as Sonny started pushing buttons on the cell phone she now had in her hands. Assuming she was texting someone, I didn't bother her, knowing she'd talk to me when she was ready to. A few moos later (whoever she was texting must've answered), she drummed her feet up and down excitedly.

"Good news!" she exclaimed when I put one hand on each of her legs, holding them still. "You don't have to find a hotel! Grandma Munroe and Lucy are the only two visitors at the house until Thanksgiving day, so if Lucy stays in my room with me, there's an extra place for you!"

Her smile fell when I didn't return it, crinkling my brow instead.

"What?" she demanded. "Don't tell me you'd rather stay at a hotel when you could be one room away from me."

"Perhaps you forgot, but I play Mackenzie on Mackenzie Falls, the number one tween drama," I reminded her. "Don't you think I deserve to stay someplace better than a house only big enough for two guest rooms?"

I didn't protest when she lifted both feet into the air, ramming them into me hard enough to knock my body into the window.

"Cool it back there!" the pilot warned us. "I don't want the plane getting knocked off course because you're making it shake too much!"

"Yeah, Sonny!" I said in a loud voice I was sure the pilot could hear. "You should really learn some airplane etiquette before I take you for a ride in one again!"

Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth was agape, and all I did was shrug my shoulders innocently. Just because she was my girlfriend didn't mean I had to be nice to her all the time. Picking on her was half the fun of our relationship.

"I loathe you," she simply stated. "I really, really loathe you, Chad Dylan Cooper."

"If that's true, then why did you invite me to stay at your house?"

"I didn't loathe you when I made the offer. Now you're officially un-invited. You're never going to step through my front door."

That was all I needed to ask the pilot to start heading back to the Munroe residence. Sonny sat up straight in her seat, crumpling my jacket into a ball over and over again in her anger.

"Why are you so mad?" I asked, honestly curious. "You said I'll never step through your front door. That means I have to do it."

"Now isn't the time to joke around, Chad. You're NEVER going to spend the night at my house, got it?"

"So, my room will be right next to yours for the rest of the week?"

My only answer was the jacket being thrown at my face. When I moved it and stole one last glance at Sonny, she had her head turned towards her darkened window, her arms folded stubbornly over her chest.

Despite her attempt at anger, I could see the smile on her face plain as day. She was just as ecstatic as I was at the thought of spending the next week closer together than we'd ever been before. Smiling cockily, I folded my arms behind my head, relaxing for the short flight ahead of me.

"Don't forget, today's our re-incarnation of Munroe Monday," I said. "You better get your sleep now if you need it. When we back to your house, we still have a long night ahead of us!"

I wasn't sure if the noise escaping Sonny's lips was a laugh or extremely weird sounding sigh.


	5. Midnight Meetings

Ahh, a private ride with Chad in the sky followed by a relaxing evening with two Wisconsin best friends and Hollywood's biggest jerk-throb.

What could go wrong?

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

* * *

Midnight Meetings and Ice Cream Eating's

My hand was on the small of Sonny's back as I helped guide her toward the house (when the plane landed, she pretended to be fast asleep, ignoring me as I poked her over and over again in an attempt to wake her up. When I decided to pick her up and carry her down the landing ramp, she was ready to walk by the time my feet were on the grass). It was cold out so we both walked rather quickly, Sonny stealing my coat again. She didn't give it back until we stood on the other side of her front door.

Lucy was the first thing we saw upon entering. She waited at the other end of the narrow hallway Sonny and I stood in, refusing to take a step closer. My guess was she remembered the look on Sonny's face earlier and had no idea whether or not her best friend had forgiven her.

Sonny answered that question by spreading her arms apart as far as they would go.

"Lucy!" she cried out happily.

"Sonny!" the other girl cried back.

They rushed forward to hug, laughing loudly as they did so. Covering my ears to try to save at least part of my hearing, I used my time to glance around the house.

All I could see from where I was standing was the long hallway where the girls were still holding each other close as they talked in excited voices. There was a bend in the hall down where Lucy had started off standing, but the three or four spaces before reaching the bend where no wall stood told me each most likely was a room. Soft country music was coming from one of them but I didn't dare walk toward the noise. I would wait for Sonny and Lucy to finish; going on a tour with the two of them sounded a lot better than going alone.

There were pictures hanging on the wall, surrounding me on either side. I turned my attention to them as I waited for the two girls, studying all of them I could without needing to walk by the first gaping hole.

Some of the pictures I'd seen before (thanks to Mrs. Munroe and her many nights of scrap booking. Sonny hated those nights and tried to make other plans for the two of us so we wouldn't wind up at her house, but most of the time it was obvious why she was trying so hard to make other plans. I would show up on her doorstep anyway and her mom would invite me in before Sonny could slam the door in my face. She loved having the chance to brag about old family stories).

The first photo frame to draw my attention was a collage of different photos seeming to take place on the same day. Mrs. Munroe was in all of them, a much younger expression on her face and a white dress bringing out her smile. A man stood at her side in one picture, kissing her gently in another with a minister standing in front of them, and feeding her a bite of cake in yet another. In the middle of the circle the photos created was the happy couple holding their new born daughter, lifting her arm so it looked like she was waving to the camera.

It dawned on me as I stared at the collage that although I knew Mrs. Munroe quite well, I'd never heard her say much about her husband. Usually scrape booking night was all about getting together photos of Sonny (she hadn't told her daughter about it yet, but she was trying to make a special book she planned to give my girlfriend on the night of her eighteenth birthday. So far, Sonny just thought her mom had an obsession with pictures). My mind started to whirl as I studied the collage.

What was Mr. Munroe like? Was he firm the way Mrs. Munroe could be or did he have the same care-free attitude about life Sonny did? Why hadn't he come with his family to Wisconsin and why did he never visit them? Were he and Mrs. Munroe having marriage problems or did they just not have enough money to see each other as often as they wanted to? Was he the type of man who bowed down to his wife's every wish or did he stand on his own two feet? How protective was he of his daughter?

A throat clearing loudly was what made my questions stop. I turned around and it wasn't until that moment I realized both girls were gone. In their place was a man with black hair, a slight mustache, and the same brown eyes I looked into every day.

I was standing face to face with Mr. Munroe.

* * *

When dad stepped into the hallway, I almost shouted a greeting at him before I saw his finger cover his lips, begging me to be quiet. He motioned for Lucy and me to enter the room he'd just come out of. He started walking toward the completely oblivious Chad.

My plan wasn't for dad to sneak up on Chad. I'd wanted to be the one to introduce them so I would be there if Chad needed me or to slap dad if his jokes went too far (after all, I did get my sense of humor from him. We both had a habit of keeping jokes going past the point of it still being laughable). When Lucy grabbed my arm and dragged me along behind her, I had no choice but to leave Chad alone.

Mom and Grandma Munroe were both in the living room, mom sitting as close to the fireplace as possible without getting burned and Grandma Munroe sitting in her rocking chair, working on what looked like a blanket. She set it down as soon as she saw me.

"Well, if it isn't my beautiful little Allison!" she exclaimed (she'd never liked referring to me as Sonny). "Come over here and give your grandmother one of those famous hugs of yours!"

"That might not be the best idea, Helen," mom said as I walked toward Grandma Munroe, ready to do as she asked. "Sonny hasn't been feeling the best. I would hate to see you get sick from whatever she has."

"I'm not sick!" I protested. "For your information, I haven't even coughed once today!"

"She's telling the truth, Mrs. Munroe," Lucy jumped in. "I haven't heard her cough at all the whole time she's been with me."

"That's not saying much," mom disagreed, shaking her head. "Sonny has been gone all afternoon, leaving without telling anyone where she was going. Now that you're finally back, would you like to explain what Chad's doing here? I told you on our way here you need to spend more time with your family and old friends. You didn't text him and ask him to come, did you?"

I didn't get a chance to answer her question; Grandma Munroe spoke up before I could.

"You're more worried about her spending time with some boy than you are about her health?" she scolded, glaring at mom before wrapping her bony arms around my neck, forcing me in for another hug as she kissed my cheek. "What's been wrong with you, Allison? I heard something about a cough; is that the only sign you've been showing?"

"Yes, grandma, that's the only sign I've been showing," I sighed, sick of explaining to everyone how I wasn't sick.

"Ah, don't forget about your shortness of breath that came after the coughing. I believe that counts as a sign as well."

I jumped in surprise when I felt an arm wrap around my waist. Chad was at my side, dad giving me a thumbs-up from behind his back. I felt very confused as Chad tightened his grip, his usual way of telling me everything was ok. Staring up at him, I tried to read his face, needing to know how his conversation with my dad had gone. Knowing exactly what I was trying to do, Chad kept his eyes on Grandma Munroe instead, pretending he couldn't see me.

The look of shock that crossed Grandma Munroe's face was almost expressive enough to make me wonder if she was having a heart attack. I knew she wasn't when she started speaking again.

"Are you the dapper young man dating my granddaughter?" she asked, squinting at Chad through her glasses.

The last thing in the world Chad needed to hear was someone besides himself call him 'dapper'. Smiling at me, he popped the collar of his jacket (not his Mackenzie Falls uniform but a fancy shirt that still had a jacket covering it) and I knew his ego had just taken a huge boost.

"The name's Chad Dylan Cooper," he introduced, extending the hand that wasn't around me toward Grandma Munroe. "You must be Sonny's grandmother?"

Instead of taking his hand, Grandma Munroe started shouting.

"Don't you have any respect toward my Sonny at all? You've been dating her for what, a year now, and you still haven't asked her to marry you? Why, when I was your age, I was already having my first child!"

"Helen!" mom and dad shouted in unison.

"The two of you can just shut your traps!" Grandma Munroe ordered them. "If I remember correctly, which of course I do, you got married the second you were both of legal age! When I was a little girl, you were considered old and unwanted if you were the age of these two and still unwed!"

Despite the fact mom was climbing to her feet and rushing to Grandma Munroe's side so she could sooth her and dad was running toward the stereo, asking if anyone wanted to listen to something other than country, the damage was already done. Lucy had her hand over her mouth as she tried to hide her laughter and Chad's body had gone stiff, his arm feeling like a lead weight as it stayed at my side.

That was more than enough family time for one night. Taking Chad's hands in both of mine, I gave him a forceful tug. He stumbled out of his stiffness and started walking again as I led him from the room.

"Well, uh, I think I'm going to finish Chad's tour of the house," I explained. No one even glanced at me or acknowledged I was speaking, too busy rushing around the room to make sure Grandma Munroe was going to calm down again. "Right…I'll see you all later!"

Lucy followed as I dragged Chad out of the living room, laughing hysterically before we had a chance to get out of ear-shot. As much as I loved laughing along with her, I knew I couldn't do it this time.

There was no humor at all in the horrified expression on Chad's face.

* * *

I thought meeting Mr. Munroe would be the worst part of the night. After he surprised me in the hallway, his mouth set in a grim line, I thought for sure he was going to give me the whole 'stay away from my daughter or I'll kill you' speech. Even my fear as I waited for him to speak was nothing compared to the comment Sonny's grandma had made.

Marriage? Getting married? Sonny and I having a wedding simply because, as she thought, we were too old to go on with our happy lives as a dating couple?

Sure, I'd thought about marrying Sonny someday. I'd known for awhile now she was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I didn't see the wedding taking place anytime soon. We were both young, still teenagers; it was way too early to be talking about marriage.

Wasn't it?

What if Sonny had been talking about wedding plans before I'd come into the room? Maybe her grandma had only brought it up because Sonny wasn't brave enough to talk to me about it. Could she possibly be thinking about us tying the knot? Was she mad I hadn't asked her the question yet?

Seeming nervous as well, Sonny didn't give me the tour she dragged me out of the living room saying she was going to give. Instead, she drug me back to the hallway we'd started out in, this time taking me toward the bend at the end of it. It led to the kitchen where there was also a staircase, a staircase Sonny pushed me to, using both her hands on my back as she tried to force me up.

"Lucy," she said, her voice strained as she continued pushing me. "Can you take Chad upstairs and show him his room? I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Not a problem, Sonny," Lucy replied, ducking under my arm (the staircase was as narrow as the hallway and my body was easily blocking it from anyone walking at my side) so she was in front of me. "Follow me, Chad, and I'll show you to the Cooper Suite."

Taking one glance at Sonny over my shoulder (she was standing at the island in the middle of the kitchen, her nails drumming it as she chewed on her bottom lip), I climbed up the stairs at Lucy's heels. Honestly, I was glad Sonny wasn't coming with us. I had a few questions for her friend.

There were only four doors in sight once Lucy and I made it to the second level of the house, two of them side by side while the others were further down the hall.

"This is the room grandma Munroe is staying in," my tour guide pointed out, resting her hand on the first door as we walked by. "And this is the bathroom. Please only use it when necessary though. Remember, for this week, you're stuck in a house with one bathroom and four girls." She didn't pause as she continued walking, her fingers grasping around the last doorknob. "Here's Sonny's room, and the one right next door is - Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

I smiled at her innocently, moving over so she couldn't see the hand I had on Sonny's door.

"I'm not doing anything," I told her. "I'm definitely not peeking into Sonny's room if that's what you think!"

My reverse physiology didn't work. I started to push open the door, it creaked loudly, and Lucy pushed my hand away, closing it before I could see much of anything.

"If Sonny wants you in there, she'll show you herself," she informed me, standing in front of the door much like the security guard did on the Mackenzie Falls set.

"I've seen her room multiple times back in Hollywood. Why does it matter if I see her real room, too?"

"Maybe she has different stuff in her real room," Lucy responded, her stance not wavering.

"What, do you think she's hiding another crazy relative in there?" I let out a forced laugh. "What was up with her grandma tonight? She wasn't serious about all that wedding talk…was she?"

"Actually, I hate to say this, but she wasn't kidding." Lucy shook her head back and forth as she stared up at me, the disbelief in her eyes letting me know her words were true. "Grandma Munroe is always going off about stories from when she was a little girl. It's like she thinks we're all still living in that time period or something, like time never brought her to the 21st century. I mean, she's here physically, but mentally…"

To finish off her statement, Lucy waved her finger at the side of her face, suggesting Grandma Munroe was crazy. I chuckled softly.

"Nico and Grady did try making a time machine once," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "It didn't work on the two of them, but maybe it somehow trapped Sonny's grandma in the past."

"Yeah!" Lucy agreed, her hands going into the air with the excitement behind our conversation. "Maybe the time machine captured all of Sonny's family and stuck them in the past with Grandma Munroe!"

I could feel my smile fade as her words sank in.

"Please don't tell me the rest of her family is as crazy as her grandma is. I'm not sure I can handle a whole room full of people telling me I should already be married."

"Once you've known Sonny as long as I have and you've gotten introduced to everyone she's related to, you learn quite a bit of useful information. For example, I can tell you right now that if you don't like doing things farm-style, you're going to hate the next few days here. And you better be ready for lots of talking Thanksgiving day…her family loves to 'talk' to their newest members."

She put air quotes around the word talk and I couldn't stop myself from asking, "And what, exactly, do you mean by that?"

Her face became deadly serious as she cocked an eyebrow, shrugging in that sweet manner all girls seemed to have.

"Let's just say that the first year I was invited to a Munroe Thanksgiving, I ended up outside with barely any clothes on and feathers glued all over my body." I must've looked as surprised as I felt because she nodded her head. "I'm just giving you fair warning. I don't want you getting stuck with a cold that lasts for three weeks like mine did."

I moaned, stepping around Lucy so I could slam my head against Sonny's door.

"You're really making me start to regret my decision to spend Thanksgiving here," I said, not bothering to lift my head.

"Aww, don't say that!" I felt a warm pair of hands start to rub my arm soothingly. "I promise I'll do my best to keep you from harm, Chad. I've been through all this before, remember? I'm sure with the two of us working together, we can out-smart the Munroe clan!"

"Ahem?"

Lucy pulled away from me, I lifted my head from the door, and both of us noticed Sonny for the first time. She was carrying three bowls stacked sky-high with ice cream, one of them clenched between her teeth.

Why did she always have to show up at the worse possible moment?

* * *

Chad rushed to my side, taking the bowl from my mouth. He didn't seem as shaken up about the wedding talk and I was happy he'd gotten over it while I was getting ice cream. I wasn't sure if he'd spend the rest of his time at my house freaked out or if he would be able to laugh it off.

"Thank you," I said, flashing Chad my biggest smile before turning toward my room. "Who wants to stay up late eating ice cream and catching up with each other?"

"Wait." Chad sounded confused. "You're not mad about anything you just saw or heard?"

"I couldn't really see anything since the ice cream was blocking my view," I told him before noticing Lucy seemed just as confused as he was. I could feel my eyes starting to narrow. "Why? Should I be mad about something?"

"There's nothing at all to be mad about," Lucy replied, taking one of the bowls from my hands before opening my door. "Come on, you two. You have a lot to tell me, starting with how you're together now when last time I saw you, Sonny was fighting security just to get in to Chad's birthday party!"

I turned to Chad, but he waved me forward, motioning for me to enter my room first. Shaking off the nervousness he and Lucy had both shown (surely I was just imagining things), I followed Lucy inside.

My room was different than it was before I'd moved to Hollywood mainly because all my stuff was packed away instead of being out in the open. I still couldn't stop myself from pausing in the doorway, sighing contently as I took a look around. The blue desk my dad had given me years ago was still there, the old styled red phone sitting on top of it. My nightstand was in the corner with the purple lamp, the painting with a huge flower on it was hanging on the wall, and the black cat clock ticked away the seconds with its tail. The yellow blanket on my bed was washed and shining like the bed was brand new.

For the first time in months, I felt like I was really home.

Lucy plopped into the purple beanbag chair, leaving Chad and me with nowhere to sit but my bed. It wasn't long before the three of us were talking like the best friends I was hoping Chad and Lucy would become through me. The ice cream melted as Chad and I explained how we'd gotten together, Lucy laughing every time we started fighting about one of the details (which seemed to happen a lot). Once we were finally done, she started to tell me everything I'd missed while I was in Hollywood (more about the prom I'd missed, who was dating whom, and a million other facts Chad sat through quietly, having no idea what we were talking about).

It was a few hours later when Lucy swept up all three empty bowls, saying she was going to the kitchen anyway to see if she could find any hot wings. The second she was out of the room, Chad turned to me.

"I like your dad," he stated, smiling as he more than likely thought back to the conversation he'd shared with dad earlier. "He acted like he was going to kill me at first, but then he started laughing and said he was just messing around. He did make me promise not to take you off without telling anyone next time. Apparently your mom was really going crazy the whole time we were gone."

"Mom can be over-protective sometimes," I agreed, nodding my head. "That's the reason she came to Hollywood with me instead of dad. Someone had to stay here and watch over Grandma Munroe and mom knew if she was the one who stayed behind, I would basically be running free all over Hollywood. Dad isn't good on the whole rules idea."

Chad chuckled as he slipped his arm around me, pulling me tight to his side.

"Do you think we can convince him to come back with you this time?" he asked, his face invading my personal bubble. "I would love to have no rules whenever I came to visit you. It would give us a lot more time to do this."

He leaned down and kissed my lips. It wasn't because of a cough that I pushed him away quickly. I had a question for him sailing through my mind that wasn't letting me enjoy the moment.

"You'd tell me the truth if there was something going on between you and Lucy, right?" I searched his eyes while waiting for his answer. "I mean, I know you guys just met and everything, but you both seem to be…I don't know. You just both seem to be a little jumpy."

"Sonny." He took my hand in his, pulling it to his face so he could kiss it like they did in old movies. "There's nothing going on between your best friend and me. You're my girlfriend, not her, and that's something I never want to change. My ego is only big enough to let one person inside, and that's you."

I officially didn't have anything to worry about. Chad wouldn't lie to me about Lucy. I was crazy for suspecting the two of them in the first place. Sure, Chad could be a little sneaky sometimes and always flirting with girls, but it was all for publicity. He wasn't really interested in any of them. And Lucy was my best friend. She wouldn't go behind my back and make moves on my boyfriend, even if he was Chad Dylan Cooper.

My thoughts were taking advantage of me. They were taking over, making me see things in my friends that weren't really there. If I didn't calm down, I was going to spoil my own holiday.

Just as I was preparing to kiss Chad and make up for my pulling away the first time, Lucy burst into the room with a tray of hot wings in her hands.

"Look what I found!" she said in a sing-song voice, setting the tray down on the floor. "We'll have to go to the store tomorrow if we want to eat hot wings again. This was the last of them."

Pulling out of Chad's grasp, I sat on the floor so I could reach the food, picking a hot wing off the tray and putting it in my mouth.

"This," I said as I chewed, "Is awesome!"

Lucy smiled as she started chewing on her own hot wing.

"This is awesomer!" she cried out happily.

We both reached for another one, somehow our hands landing on the same one. We split it in half, both of us putting it into our mouths at the same time.

"That was awesomest!" we exclaimed in unison.

Chad joined us on the floor as Lucy and I started laughing uncontrollably. He stared down at the tray but didn't take any of the food.

"You know," he said thoughtfully, "This really is just like Munroe Monday. Here's dinner, we already had the ice cream…Now all we need is a photo album full of Sonny pictures!"

"I know where one is!"

Lucy was already on her feet, getting ready to go find the photo album, when I grabbed her leg. She almost tripped before turning to look at me.

"He's kidding," I told her, glaring at Chad. "Sit down and eat your hot wings because I really will kill you if you bring a photo album in here."

The three of us continued talking after that for a long time and the cat on the wall said it was about 3:30 am before I could barely manage to keep my eyelids open. Lucy went to find a sleeping bag while Chad and I stood in my doorway, ready to say goodnight.

"I hope you know where the nearest skating rink is," he said to me, his hand on my cheek the only thing keeping my eyes from falling shut. "Tomorrow we're reliving Twizzle Tuesday."

"Where are we going to hike to on Wednesday?" I asked through a yawn. "There are no waterfalls around here and it's too cold to have a picnic like last time."

"I'll think of something," Chad promised. "For now though, I'm going to leave you alone so you can get some sleep. There's just one more thing I have to do to make today really Munroe Monday."

Without another word, he leaned down and kissed the top of my head. Despite my tiredness, I couldn't help but smile up at him. I could still remember the first time he'd done that and the way I'd stumbled back into my apartment, oblivious to mom as she asked me if I was alright and collapsing on my bed the second it was in front of me.

"I still blame Tawni and Portlyn for making me fall for you," I said, hearing the laziness in my voice. "If they never would've told me not to, then I never would've fought so hard to do as they said. Everyone knows the harder you try to not do something, the easier it is to do it."

"In that case, I thank Portlyn and Tawni." Chad finally turned toward his room, glancing at me one last time. "Goodnight, Sonny."

But it didn't end up being a good night at all. Shortly after climbing under my blankets, the cough started in again, only this time louder and longer than any time before. I rushed into the bathroom-

Finally, I was able to find out what I swallowed down during all my other coughing fits. With a tissue in my hands, I looked down on what could only be described as a gross thick and cloudy round of drainage, complete with blood.

I spent the rest of the night with my head resting against the glass doors around the tub, jerking awake every time I coughed. Sweat wouldn't stop rolling down my cheeks, but I hoped that was only because of how scared I felt. Coughing up blood wasn't a good sign and I couldn't deny it any longer: there truly was something wrong with me.


	6. Nightmare on Sonny's Street

Disclaimer: I don't own swac or the title reference to Nightmare on Elm Street

* * *

Nightmare on Sonny's Street

_My room was much too loud. I was used to waking up to the sound of my cell phone or sometimes an annoying alarm clock, but when the sound was over, everything would fade into the peacefulness I knew and loved. Something was different today._

_With my eyes still clamped shut, I let the noises surround me as they gently woke me from my slumber. A continuous beep was coming from my side, along with the sound of someone taking deep breaths. Heels clicked across tile flooring and voices murmured softly from every direction. Doors opened and closed. Somewhere, a man was shouting about always having to eat the same food day after day. _

_Not able to place what any of the sounds were, I let my eyes flutter open. They blinked a few times, brushing away the sleep still hidden in them, before adjusting to the scene around me. At first, I was too afraid to move._

_The clothes I had fallen asleep in the night before were off, replaced by a white gown. My yellow blanket was no longer there to pull to my chest and a white one was in its place. Needles were all over my body, poking into my arms and chest. One of them was actually taking my blood; I could see the tube connected to it leading up to the machine that was still beeping. I had no idea what the numbers on it meant, but the green wave was something I'd seen many times: it was counting my heartbeat._

_There were many other things to see as my eyes swirled around the room. The door was open so I could see the people walking through the halls, most of them dressed in all white clothes as I was, clipboards in their gloved hands. Not one of them looked at me as they passed and I wished with all my heart they would. I wanted someone, anyone, to explain where I was and what I was doing here instead of being home._

_I almost jumped when I felt a hand cover mine; I hadn't realized I wasn't the only one in the room. For the first time, I turned my attention to the side of the bed._

_My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I saw who was sitting beside me. Dark circles were under his eyes as though he hadn't moved in hours, maybe even days. His hand was holding mine, but he wasn't conscience enough to know what he was doing. Even as his head fell, his eyes finally shutting, I couldn't help but feel extremely happy. I wasn't alone. As long as he was at my side, I knew I was going to be alright._

"_Chad." I couldn't see his eyes, but I could guess the reason he didn't answer me was because he hadn't woken up. Slapping the top of his head (carefully so the needles in my arm wouldn't dislodge), I tried again. "Chad! Wake up!"_

_His head shot up quickly, his hand let go of mine, and his eyes darted around the room as he put his hands up, ready to protect his face. When he realized he wasn't being attacked and I was the one who'd been calling his name, his pose relaxed. He took my hand again as he smiled down at me._

"_Sonny," he said my name. "You're finally awake."_

"_What do you mean 'finally'?" I repeated him. "How long have I been asleep? What happened to me? How did I get here? Is this a hospital because if it is, I can go home right now, I only have a cold-,"_

_I was forced to stop when Chad placed his finger over my lips. Feeling the warmth of his skin against mine made me realize how cold I really was. Shivering, I pulled the white blanket to my chin with the hand I still had free._

"_You don't only have a cold," Chad explained, his hand resting on my forehead. My eyes shut as I soaked in his warmth. How could he have so much more heat than I did when we were sitting in the same room? "You're suffering from a fever right now. You don't get that from a cold."_

"_Some colds cause you to get a fever," I protested. When Chad shook his head, I sighed, not in the mood to fight with him. "Fine, maybe I don't have a cold. I'm sure it's just the flu then. That's no excuse to throw me in the hospital."_

"_It is if you have swine flu!"_

_No one had been in the room besides Chad only moments ago and yet, somehow, the two of us were no longer alone. Grady, Nico, Tawni, and Zora all stood on the opposite side of my bed, staring down at me like I was the world's darkest omen. Zora was standing several steps behind the others, Tawni had a mask over her nose and mouth, and Grady was the only one smiling (not because he was happy to see me, but because he'd gotten to the say the words 'swine flu')._

"_How many times do I have to tell you, G?" Nico said, rolling his eyes to his best friend. I thought he was going to say something about showing me a little bit of respect, which was why I was so surprised at his next words. "It's not called Swine Flu anymore; it's H1N1!"_

_My cast, the four people who felt more like family to me than my blood relatives did sometimes, could care less about me. Instead of asking if I was alright or doing the nice thing and telling me why I was in the hospital in the first place, all they wanted to do was fight about the correct name for a disease. _

_Turning my eyes away from Nico and Grady, I looked at my two female cast mates. They both stared back at me wordlessly._

"_What's wrong?" I asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. "Zora, why are you standing way back there? Tawn, why are you covering your face?"_

_The one word Zora used to answer my question wouldn't have hurt more than if she would've taken a sword and driven it straight through my heart: "Evil!"_

"_She's right this time," Tawni nodded along with the youngest Random. "You're evil because you're highly contagious. The doctor warned all of us to be careful coming in here. I just don't want to take any chances."_

"_I'm highly contagious?" My voice went high, the same way it did every time I was in denial. Or very, very afraid about something. "Why am I contagious? What do I have?"_

"_No one knows the answer to that question yet."_

_As suddenly as my cast had appeared, the Mackenzie Falls members pulled the same trick. They all stood at the foot of the bed, finishing off the semi-circle around me. The only difference between them and my cast mates was that they seemed excited, leaning in as close as they could, one of them even snapping pictures with a camera. As it flashed over and over again, I used my hands to shield my eyes. _

"_Devon! Do you mind?" I demanded, begging him to stop._

"_I'm sorry, Sonny," he apologized, actually sounding sincere. "I just wanted to get some pictures for the press before they announce that you're done with So Random!"_

_I could feel my jaw drop. Done with So Random! Why was the press going to announce that? I didn't want to be done working on the show. It was my life, the one thing I looked forward to doing every single day, a job I could see myself doing until the day it would eventually get cancelled, but even then I would come back for the ten year reunion. Why was I suddenly being kicked off?_

"_We can't really work with you anymore, Sonny," Nico answered the question I was too afraid to say aloud. "You'd be putting all of us in danger with whatever disease they find out you have once the testing's over."_

"_What disease could possibly be that bad?"_

_No one answered me as all their heads turned toward the door. One of the doctors was walking in. He took one look at the beeping machine, which sounded like it was going at a faster rhythm than before, as he shook his head sadly._

"_I'm afraid having all of you in here is making Sonny a little bit too over excited," he explained. "I'm going to have to ask all of you but one to leave."_

_Chad's hand was the one I reached for as everyone else started to make their way from the room. He wouldn't leave me at a time like this, not when I needed him more than ever before. If only he knew how comfortable he could make me, the peace he gave me with just one simple touch…_

_I was shocked when I saw that he, too, was climbing to his feet. He stopped when he felt my hand on his, but the look in his eyes as he gazed at me wasn't the loving look I was used to. Instead he seemed almost - was mad the word I was looking for?_

"_Chad." My voice was barely above a whisper. "Please don't leave me."_

"_Grow up, Munroe!" Without_ _any warning, he ripped his hand out of my grasp. "Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't date girls he can't even go out in public with! Besides, I have all the girls I need right here."_

_He held out his arms, a huge grin on his face as he waited for something to happen. Within seconds, he had a girl at either of his sides. One of them was Tawni, who seemed absolutely thrilled to be there. The other was-_

"_Lucy?" My voice sounded appalled even to my ears. _

_My best friend smiled at me, the first real smile any of my so-called friends had given so far. _

"_Actually, I go by Lulu now," she informed me before jumping up and down. "Can you believe I'm really one of Chad Dylan Cooper's girls now? You wouldn't believe how awesome it is!"_

"_You may be one of his girls, but I'm his only real girlfriend." To prove her point, Tawni placed her hand on Chad's chest, smiling up at him flirtatiously. "Now that Sonny's out of the picture, things can finally go back to the way they're supposed to be. So Random! will be my show, I'll be the best actress in all of Hollywood, and the love Chad and I share will be enough to bring our two casts together. Isn't that right, my little Goose?"_

_Lucy pushed away Tawni's hand, forcing hers under it as she gave Chad an even bigger_ _smile than the blonde had._

"_You would've picked me as your real girlfriend if I lived in Hollywood, right, Chad?" She glared at Tawni. "She would be in my place if she lived in Wisconsin instead, right? Being one of the girls who only gets to be your girlfriend whenever you get the chance to visit? It's alright to tell us the truth, you know."_

"_Why would he tell us the truth when we both already know it?" Tawni asked, forcing Lucy's hand off Chad. "Why would you want him to crush your feelings like that?"_

"_Ladies, ladies!" Chad was grinning from ear to ear as he rested his arms on the shoulders of the girls, holding up his hands to silence their fight. "There's no reason to argue over me. There's enough Chad for everyone!" _

_Tawni and Lucy both giggled and walked out of the room with a very happy Chad between them. Both casts followed the trio, laughing as they went (did someone shout out, "Party at the Munroe house!"?). Portlyn was the only one who didn't leave. She sat down on the edge of my bed, her eyes sad as she patted my leg._

"_That was harsh," she stated the obvious. _

"_I still have no idea what's going on," I complained, reaching for Portlyn's hand, not wanting the last person I knew to leave me like everyone else. "No one told me why I'm here in the hospital, or what disease I have, or why everyone suddenly turned on me! It's like - It's like I'm stuck in some sort of nightmare!"_

_Portlyn moved closer to me, sitting close enough to my face that she could brush a strand of hair from falling into my eyes. Her movement reminded me so much of how Chad had done the same thing so many times that I couldn't stop from letting out a loud sob. The expression on her face softened._

"_Shh, shh," she hushed me, trying to pull me in for a hug before stopping because of the needles. "Everything's going to be alright, Sonny. You can trust me."_

"_I thought_ _I could trust Chad," I protested, my eyes angrily turning toward the door. "I thought I could trust him to stick with me no matter what."_

"_How can he stick with you when you don't even tell him what's wrong?"_

_I stared at Portlyn for a long moment, wondering if I'd heard her incorrectly. I didn't tell Chad what was wrong? Judging by the way he'd been sitting at my side in a hospital room, I figured he knew there was a problem. How could I tell him what was going on with me when I still had no idea myself?_

"_You had a chance to tell Chad the truth before you ended up here, Sonny," Portlyn went on explaining. "You could've told him you were sick, but instead you kept insisting it was only a cold when you knew it wasn't. If you'd just gone to the doctor like your mom suggested instead of letting things get this far…"_

_Before I could say another word, the beeping on the machine beside me started getting faster and faster until there were many beeps per second. The doctor rushed to see what was going on before running to the doorway of the room, shouting for help from anyone near enough to hear him. I began to worry as Portlyn got to her feet, stepping away from me._

"_Wait!" I pleaded, reaching out with both my hands. "Portlyn, please don't leave me here alone! Portlyn!"_

_Her back stayed turned in my direction, her arm already too far away for me to grasp. There was nothing I could do but watch as she left me, just like everyone else had done before. Only once she was at the door did she turn around to give me one last sorrowful look._

"_It's too late," she said, her head moving back and forth slowly. "Goodbye, Sonny Munroe."_

"_Goodbye?" I repeated as I tried to climb out of the bed. "What do you mean by 'goodbye'?"_

_A group of doctors and nurses surrounded me, pushing me back until I was flat on the mattress again. A clump of gloved hands reached out for me, some of them holding me still as I struggled to get free, others putting in more needles. I screamed but they didn't pay any attention; I cried but they kept going. There was no escaping it as they brought in a huge machine._

"_Clear!" one doctor shouted, his hands on the machine as it rested on my chest. Everyone stepped back as a shock forced my whole body to jump into the air._

_Slowly, everything around me started to fade. The faces became blurry even though I'd never needed glasses, the sounds of their voices jumbled together so it sounded like one huge buzz, and I no longer felt cold as I had been since opening my eyes._

_All I knew was the peace that surrounded me as my eyes fell shut._

My scream was loud enough to make my ears ring as I sat up straight, sunlight pouring in on my face. I was panting, sweat was running down my face, and I pushed away my blanket quickly. Without deciding to do it, my feet jumped up from my bed, carrying me over to the corner of my room where I sat against the wall, curling up into a ball.

"It was just a dream," I chanted over and over again. "It was just a dream. It was just a dream."

No matter how many times I said it, my body wouldn't stop shaking as I rocked back and forth. Tears mingled with the sweat and I brushed them away with my shoulder, unwilling to move the hands I had locked around my knees. Thankfully Lucy wasn't in my room, her sleeping bag left in an untidy mess across from me, and Chad must not have been anywhere close by or he would've come running at my shout. I needed to be alone until I could regain my composure.

All I wanted to do was sit in my corner for the rest of my life and never fall asleep again. There was no way I could live through another dream like that. How was I going to make it through this one?

A soft knock on my door had me groaning. The last thing I needed right now was to try to explain to someone why I was sitting on the floor crying.

"Now's not really a good time," I called out, burying my head in my knees before the visitor could see my tears. "Could you come back later?"

"You don't even have time for your own grandmother?" My head perked up when I recognized Grandma Munroe's voice. She walked over and knelt beside me. "Are you sure you don't want to talk, Allison? I bet I could help you."

Despite not wanting to seem weak, I hugged Grandma Munroe as tight as I could, resting my head on her chest as the tears started flowing harder. She patted my back, telling me it was going to be ok. I wasn't sure if I could believe her after the dream or not. I wasn't sure if things were ever going to be ok again.


	7. Twizzle Tuesday

Here is the new version of Twizzle Tuesday.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot

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Twizzle Tuesday…

Or Maybe Just Some Friends Ice Skating

For the first time in my life, I needed advice. Chad Dylan Cooper wasn't one to go running asking anyone who would listen how to fix his problems, but in this case, I really had no idea what to do. There was one person who I could talk to without getting laughed at for sinking so low, and it was her number I dialed as I sat alone in the Munroe's living room. Hopefully she wouldn't be too busy to talk.

"Chad?" she asked once the other line stopped ringing, skipping any greetings. "Why are you calling me? I thought you'd be enjoying your vacation with Sonny."

"About that…You and Tawni didn't ask Sonny to play some kind of trick on me again, did you? You know, like when she knew I liked her and played along until she ended up really falling for me? Is she up to something like that again?"

"What?" Portlyn's voice sounded very confused. "Of course Tawni and I didn't ask Sonny to play a trick on you. We only did it in the first place to get the two of you together."

"Oh." I paused, trying to think of another question. "Well…When's the last time you talked to Tawni? Has she said anything about Sonny coming up with some sort of crazy plan?"

"I haven't seen Tawni since the break started," Portlyn replied. "Now, would you like to tell me the real reason you're calling or are you too proud to admit you want something from me?"

"Who said I wanted anything from you?"

"You're Chad Dylan Cooper. You never call someone just to have a simple conversation with them."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, Portlyn was right. Besides my daily phone calls to Sonny (which I did every day simply to hear her voice one last time before falling asleep or to annoy her, which, in that case, seemed to work best when I called her at the early hours of the morning), I didn't call anyone just to chat about the weather. There had to be an important matter at hand when your caller ID said Chad was on the other end of the line.

There was something important I needed to talk to Portlyn about, but I wasn't sure how to say it without making her think she needed to help me. I wanted to sound like I had it all under control, that I was only calling her so I could have her voice back up my already made up mind. What I needed to do was tell her my problems in a way that made me sound like I was on top of it, something that would make her give me an answer without realizing she'd done it.

"I think Sonny wants to break up with me."

The words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them or think of anything better to say. Once they were out, it was too late to take them back. All I could do was punch myself for coming right out with the problem instead of going about it in a cooler fashion.

On the other end of the phone, Portlyn had fallen silent.

"Hello?" I took my phone away from my ear, checking to see if the call had somehow ended. "Portlyn? Did we get disconnected?"

"I'm still here," her voice finally replied. "I just - I went into shock for a second there."

"Shock?" I repeated.

"Well, I've heard of you breaking up with girls before, but the only time I've heard it the other way around was-," She trailed off, not finishing the thought we both already knew. "Anyway…Why do you think Sonny wants to break up with you? Are you in some kind of fight?"

"I wouldn't be calling you if it was just a fight. Sonny and I fight all the time. In case you haven't noticed, it's kind of our thing."

A frustrated sigh came from Portlyn's end of the conversation.

"Look, Chad, I'm not a mind reader. Either tell me what's going on or hang up. As much as you may not want to believe it, I do have a life."

I took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Sonny hasn't been acting like herself lately. She'll be mad at me one minute and fine the next! Yesterday she was getting angry about her best friend hugging me, then she seemed fine when I took her up in my airplane, and when we were talking later, she brought up her friend again!"

"Sounds to me like she's jealous of you and her friend," Portlyn interrupted me.

"Then why would she leave the two of us home alone all day?" I shot back, not wanting to believe her theory. There was no reason for Sonny to be jealous of Lucy and me. She understood girls loved me; surely she could see why Lucy couldn't resist my Chad charm. "I've barely even seen Sonny all day. Sure, there were those few minutes this morning when I snuck into her room while she was asleep-,"

"You spied on her?"

"But all she did was toss and turn, muttering something about please don't leave her," I went on, ignoring Portlyn's comment. "When I walked by again a little bit later, her door was open but I didn't go in. I could hear her crying and, as I passed, I could see her grandmother was with her."

"Sonny has a grandmother?"

"Doesn't everyone have a grandmother? Please try to keep up with me here, Port. Figuring I would leave Sonny to her cute little family moment, I waited for her in the kitchen. It was a few hours before she finally came in and she looked really surprised to see me. Her eyes were blood-shot, her hair was frazzled, and she was still in the same clothes she'd been wearing the night before, but I was nice enough to look past all that when she smiled at me. 'Chad,' she said in that cute little way she always says my name, 'How did you like your first night here?' 'It was perfect,' I informed her, trying to fix her hair by running my hands through it. She has the cutest-,"

"Is this story going to end anytime today? If not, I should probably let my mom know I can't help her get around food for Thursday until tomorrow."

If she would've been able to see me, the glare I gave would've been enough to tell her to be quiet. She was one of the many people afraid of my wrath when she was around me. Apparently it didn't work the same on the phone.

"Fine, I'll give you the short version: Sonny said good morning, she went to talk to her parents, she told me she was going away for the day. Her, Mr. and Mrs. Munroe, and Grandma Munroe have been gone since then."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Portlyn said in a 'what do you want me to do about it?' way. "So Sonny and her family went away for the day. It is almost Thanksgiving, one of the biggest family holidays. Maybe they wanted some time together without you hanging around."

I couldn't help but laugh at that one.

"Oh, please! Who has ever heard of someone _not _wanting me around?"

"Well, didn't you say something before you left about Sonny not feeling the greatest?" I could tell by Portlyn's tone she was starting to get annoyed, which meant she was throwing out suggestions without taking the time to think about them. "Maybe she's gotten worse and her family's taking her to the doctor today."

Thinking back to it, Portlyn might've had a point. Lucy told me that when she'd woken up in the middle of the night, Sonny wasn't in her bed and she'd heard coughing coming from down the hall. Maybe Sonny's cough had gotten worse over the night and her family (if they were all as worried as her mom was about her health) forced her to get help.

Before I could say another word, a beep sounded in my ear.

"Hold on for a second, Port," I ordered. "I just got a text message."

"Can't you tell me goodbye before you check-,"

Her protest was lost as I took the phone from my ear, hitting the button needed to read the new message. My heart nearly leapt from my chest when I saw it was from Sonny. It sank again after reading her words:

_Sorry, but plans are going to take longer than expected. Won't make it to the skating rink tonight. Please don't be mad!_

_Love,_

_Sonny Munroe_

_P.S. Hope you find something fun to keep you busy!_

"I can't believe it!" I exclaimed, bringing the phone back to where I could speak into it. "Now she's not going skating with me tonight!"

"Skating? Who's going skating? I love skating!"

Lucy was behind me, her face turning red as she realized I was on the phone. Shrugging her shoulders helplessly, she left the room, mouthing something about how sorry she was as she left. Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to Portlyn.

"If you want my advice, which I know you do even though you'll deny it if anyone ever asks you, I think you should ease up on Sonny. Let her do her thing. You can find someone else to hang out with, or even go exploring around Wisconsin on your own," she suggested. "That's really all I can tell you without seeing the situation for myself."

I paused as her words sank in, a smile slowly overtaking my lips.

"That's a great idea, Portlyn!"

"What's a great idea?" Now she was back to her confused tone.

"You coming here so you can keep an eye on Sonny and help me figure out what's really wrong with her! Her entire family is coming over on Thanksgiving anyway. Why don't you and the rest of the Mackenzie Falls cast come too?"

"What? Chad, that isn't what I meant! It's not your house, you can't go around inviting anyone you want over-,"

"Actually, why shouldn't the cast of So Random! tag along as well? If Sonny is sick, seeing her friends again will make her feel better! I'm so happy I thought of this idea!" Portlyn's sputtering was lost when my voice went over hers. "It's been great talking to you again, Portlyn, but I've got to go. I think I know what I'm going to do to keep busy tonight."

I didn't listen as Portlyn's voice went on, flipping my phone shut instead. Tucking the phone into my pocket as I climbed to my feet, I called out the name I never thought I would hear myself say.

"Lucy! I hope you either know of a really close skating rink or a taxi service nearby! We're going skating!"

* * *

I was exhausted by the time I came home that night. What I wanted to do more than anything else was climb into Chad's arms, staying with him through the night so there would be no chance of me having the same dream as last night. I wanted him to hold me close and tell me how lucky I was to have him. I wanted his egotistical voice to tell me everything was going to be ok.

To my surprise, I couldn't find him anywhere in the house. Lucy seemed to be missing as well.

"That's strange," I remarked as I joined my family in the living room. "I guess Chad and Lucy must've gone somewhere."

"You shouldn't be hanging out with them anyway," mom told me. She was over by the fireplace, putting more logs into the small flame (was it just me, or was she throwing the logs in with too much force?). "It's one thing to get your family sick, but to put your friends at risk…I can't believe you wouldn't take the test today. We were already at the hospital anyway!"

"Connie, calm down," dad said as he wrapped his arms around me after I joined him on the couch. "I'm sure the only reason Sonny stayed in the car is because she's scared. You would be too if you thought you might have a life threatening disease."

"Actually, I'm not scared at all," I protested. "I didn't take the test because I know I don't have anything but a cold."

"Oh really, Sonny?" Mom closed the glass door in front of the fire before sitting on my other side. "How many other colds have you had where you've coughed up blood?"

"Uh…well…" I paused as mom raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer. "That's the only symptom I'm showing so far! Why would I only have one symptom if it was that life threatening thing?"

"Because with that life threatening thing, the cough lasts for two weeks and can sometimes come before the other symptoms," Grandma Munroe spoke up as she rocked back and forth in her chair. "I told you all of this earlier, Allison. Back when I was a young girl suffering from the same thing, my cough came sooner than anything else. You're wrong about not showing any other signs, too."

Why was everyone teaming up against me? Didn't I know my body a little bit better than the three of them?

"What other signs am I showing?" I asked, deciding to play along since no one was going to let the topic drop.

"That boyfriend of yours said you were short of breath a few times," Grandma Munroe listed, holding up a finger. She raised the next one, going on before I could cut in. "Last night you had night sweats and probably a fever."

"Everyone sweats when they have nightmares! And the shortness of breath was only from the coughing fits I'd just gone through!"

Mom had heard enough. She was shaking her head as she climbed to her feet and took several steps closer to the phone.

"Those are enough symptoms to scare me," she said, her fingers lingering over the numbers. "I'm calling the doctor right now and setting up a test for you, Sonny."

Before I could do more than open my mouth, dad was on his feet as well, making his way to mom in two long strides. He tore the phone from her hands, slamming it down with a force that made the whole room shake. Mom stared at him, her eyes bigger than I'd ever seen them.

"You," dad said, staring at mom before turning his attention to Grandma Munroe, "And you need to give it a rest! If Sonny says she has a cold, then she has a cold. When she asks you two to plan a testing day for her, then by all means, go ahead and do it! There's no sense in scaring the poor girl into thinking she has something she doesn't really have!"

The room was silent but only for a few seconds. That was all the time mom needed in order to recover from her shock.

"But, Jerry, if Sonny really does have it, she could be putting everyone she comes in contact with in danger of getting it, as well," she argued. "Didn't you say the bacteria passes every time the carrier breathes it out, especially when they talk or laugh, Helen?"

"I'm glad to hear someone listens to me," Grandma Munroe nodded, sending a pointed glance in my direction. "Oh, Allison…I just wish that if you won't tell a doctor about all this, you would at least tell that handsome young man who followed you home. Maybe he'd be able to talk some sense into you, or at the very least get scared enough to get up the courage to ask you to marry him."

"No!" Three pairs of eyes all looked at me after my shout. I felt my face turn red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. But Chad can't find out about this, alright? Please don't tell him that you all think I'm really sick!"

Mom threw her hands over her head expressively as she said, "Once again, all she cares about is Chad Dylan Cooper! I swear, she'd put his life before her own if she had the choice!"

I didn't care about Chad as much as mom made it sound like I did. After the dream last night and seeing the way he left me…He knew I was sick in that dream. I was in a hospital room, begging him not to leave, but he did it anyway, replacing me faster than I thought possible. If dream Chad would do that, then what would the real Chad do if he found out I might be sick?

There was one simple answer to that question: he would do the same thing as dream Chad. Maybe he wouldn't date Tawni and Lucy, and maybe he wouldn't pick his new girl when I was around to hear who she was. Still, I knew he would find someone new. Like mom said, he was Chad Dylan Cooper. He needed someone at his side who was pretty and didn't have to waste her time in a hospital having tests done.

Besides, why should I bother telling him what my parents and Grandma Munroe thought I had? I didn't really have it, I wasn't going to the doctor to get tested for it, and I was going to go on with my life keeping it as normal as possible. There was no reason to tell Chad anything about how I'd ridden around in a car all day long hearing different facts about Tuberculosis.

When the sound of the front door opening reached everyone's ears, the conversation finally came to an end. Hoping Chad was back, I ran into the hallway, preparing myself to jump into his arms.

My feet slid to a stop. I couldn't jump into Chad's arms; someone else was already there.

* * *

"I can't believe someone stole my shoes! Who walks into a skating rink, looks at all the shoes waiting for their owners to return, and says, 'Wow, those shoes look cool! I think I'll keep them!' It's just - it's the world going crazy, that's what it is!"

I laughed along with Lucy, hoping she didn't notice my grimace as I stepped on a sharp rock. There were a lot of sharp rocks between the skating rink and Sonny's house, as I was beginning to find out. My feet were getting introduced to each one of them since Lucy was wearing my shoes in the absence of her stolen ones.

After living in Wisconsin her entire life, Lucy had known where the nearest skating rink was. Since it was only a few blocks away from the house, we decided to walk, even though I had more than enough money to rent a car. I hadn't planned on staying out as late as we ended up staying (the sun was down and the moon was up as Lucy and I walked together), but Lucy and I had both lost track of time. Skating with her, much to my surprise, had actually been fun. Just like when Sonny and I had gone together, my skills weren't at the professional level and, unlike my girlfriend, Lucy seemed to be even worse than I was. We both spent most of the night on the ice with too many bruises to count by the time we decided to leave. We spent what had to be an hour afterwards searching for her lost shoes to no avail. One of us was leaving barefooted and I wasn't going to let it be Lucy.

The chilly night air made me pull my jacket tighter to my body as Lucy and I continued our walk. Looking down at her, I couldn't help but notice her rosy cheeks and the puff of air I could see every time she exhaled.

'Should I give her my coat?' I thought to myself, unsure of the right answer. 'She looks like she's freezing…Sonny won't care if I let her best friend wear my coat for a little while, right?'

I wasn't sure if Sonny would mind or not (for some reason, she didn't seem to like Lucy and I being together), but unable to stand seeing a girl freezing when I could do something to help, I pulled off my coat. Lucy jumped as I placed it on her shoulders.

"You don't have to do that, Chad," she tried to protest. "I already have a coat on, it's my own fault for not grabbing a warmer one-,"

"You're already wearing my shoes," I told her. "You might as well finish off the Chad Dylan Cooper outfit!"

Lucy tossed back her head and laughed (her laugh sounded a lot like Sonny's) for several moments before stopping, a blush on her face.

"Sorry," she apologized softly. "My sense of humor gets carried away sometimes."

"I'm used to that. Sonny's always laughing about everything, even if no one else sees the humor in it. She could start laughing in the middle of a silent room and everyone would join in just because she was the one who started it."

I could feel Lucy's eyes on me but I didn't meet them. My thoughts were on Sonny and I didn't want to think about anyone else at the moment. Today was the first day in a long time we hadn't hung out with each other. I hadn't gotten to see her smile or hear her sweet voice or watch as she in all her stupid cuteness picked a fight with me for no reason.

"You miss her, don't you?" Lucy didn't have to ask who 'her' was for both of us to know. "I can see the Munroe house from here. Do you want to race there? The sooner we arrive, the sooner you get to see her again."

She finally got my attention.

"Is that a challenge?" I asked, feeling my lips curving into a smile.

"Only if you're ready to lose one."

"You're on. How about we start in 3...2..."

"Now!"

Lucy got her head start, but it wasn't long before I was on her heels again. My shoes were too big on her feet and she kept stumbling over them as she tried to run. Rocks kept digging into my skin, holding me from my normal speed, but I counted our disadvantages as equal. It wasn't long before we were bursting into the house, both of us crossing through the threshold at the same time. Lucy slipped as she tried to stop, losing control of my shoes. She would've fallen if I wouldn't have wrapped my arms around her-

And that was when we noticed Sonny standing before us, her arms folded over her chest as she glared.

"I think I'm going to get ready for bed," Lucy came up with an excuse, staying against the wall as she passed Sonny, afraid of what might happen if she stepped too close. "Goodnight!"

Sonny didn't even flinch as Lucy went around her, running down the hall until she was out of sight. I laughed nervously as she continued glaring.

"Lucy's right, it has been a long day," I tried. "I think I'll head up to my room as well."

Instead of letting me pass, Sonny stuck her arm in the space between the wall and her body, keeping me from going any farther.

"Where are you guys getting back from?" she asked in a voice that let me know I was in trouble.

"There's no reason to sound so worried," I reassured her. "Like I told you last night, there's nothing going on between me and Lucy. We just headed over to the skating rink and-,"

I knew I'd said something wrong the second Sonny's mouth fell open.

"Twizzle Tuesday?" Her voice sounded almost hysteric. "You celebrated Twizzle Tuesday with Lucy?"

"Well, I wouldn't say we celebrated anything, we just skated a little-,"

"No! Chad, don't you understand? You can't just go off and have a Twizzle Tuesday with anyone. It's our thing!"

"You said you weren't going to be back in time…"

"And let me guess, you thought 'find something fun to do to keep you busy' meant it was alright to just continue our original plans with Lucy!"

I had no idea why Sonny was throwing such a huge fit. So I'd gone skating with Lucy instead of her. Was it really that big of a deal?

"Sonny…is there a reason you've been so mad at me lately?" She shook her head and I could tell she had no idea what I was talking about. Putting one hand on her shoulder, I leaned down so I could whisper in her ear. "Is it that time of the month? I would much rather know the real reason behind your outbursts instead of the pathetic ones you keep using. I completely understand if that's what's bugging you and I'm here if you need someone to talk to about it."

Her mouth falling open yet again, Sonny pushed away my hand, turned on her heels, and started marching down the hall. She was back at my side a few seconds later, slapping my chest.

"You really do act like a jerk sometimes," she said. "I really have no idea why I put up with it. Asking me if it's that time of the month…Like that's any of your business!"

She was still mumbling as she went down the hall, turning the same corner Lucy had to escape upstairs. I stood where I was, lost in the whole conversation. She at least could've had the 'fine,' 'fine,' 'good,' 'good,' argument with me before leaving. I had no idea if we were 'good' or if she was still mad at me.

'Girls,' I thought as I started toward the kitchen, hoping to find a snack before following Sonny and Lucy upstairs. 'If only everyone in the world was like me. Then again, I guess that wouldn't be good. What fun would being Chad Dylan Cooper be if I couldn't have any perks?'

It was with a smile that I finally headed to my room, a huge sandwich in my hands. There were still four days left in Thanksgiving break to get Sonny to stop being mad at me. Little did she know I already had a plan in motion.


	8. A Little Thanksgiving Shopping

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Well, for the swac crew it is anyway. Tomorrow is really March 17.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

A Little Thanksgiving Shopping

It was a well known fact in my house that I wasn't a light sleeper. Mom and dad tried different tactics for years as wake up calls, ranging from simply turning on the light to drenching me in a bucketful of cold water. Nothing seemed to work. No matter what they tried, it take a good five or ten minutes before my eyes would start to open. When I became late to school every morning because of my sleeping habits, mom and dad knew something had to be done.

I was already sitting at the kitchen table one Saturday morning when mom and dad came downstairs (their usual room was the one grandma Munroe was staying in while Chad and Lucy were both visiting, forcing them to the fold-out bed inside the couch). In a zombie-like manner, mom started making coffee, dad went outside to get the morning paper, and neither of them took any notice to me.

"Coffee, Jerry?" mom asked once dad was sitting at the table, skimming the headlines.

"Yes, please."

Mom filled his mug before walking to where I was sitting.

"Coffee, Sonny?"

"Yes, please."

She'd already begun filling another mug and was getting ready to put it in my hands when her eyes flew open.

"Sonny!" she exclaimed, realizing it was me for the first time. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully, putting my elbows on the table so I could catch my tired head as it started to fall. "Some annoying noise coming from outside woke me up."

Like any parent would do, mom and dad rushed to my room, listening for whatever sound I was talking about. When they didn't hear anything and called me upstairs to try and identify it, I couldn't help but cringe as I pointed to the window.

"It's coming from that way," I informed them.

In the end, mom and dad ended up talking to our neighbors. They shrugged in response, saying nothing had changed and they had no idea what I was hearing. The only thing new were the cows grazing in their once open field. No way, mom and dad said when I suggested the mooing was the cause of my early rising. When I continued waking up early every morning after that, they started to believe my theory might just be true. Once mom moved to Hollywood with me and the sleeping in too late habit happened again, I started setting the alarm on my cell phone for whatever time I wanted to get up. Sure enough, the mooing never failed.

Apparently no one had forgotten the old trick. I was fast asleep (it had taken me a long time to reach that state since I was afraid of having the nightmare again) when I felt a rough tongue sliding over my cheek. Laughing, I swatted playfully at the air, keeping my eyes shut.

"Chad Dylan Cooper," I murmured, giggling in my more than halfway asleep stage. "Lucy's still in the room, remember?"

"So is your daddy and he wants to let you know that that boy better not be touching you whether you're alone with him or with a million other people!"

Dad's shout followed by the loud moo was all it took for my eyes to fly open. My hand flew toward the night table, my fingers fumbling until I was able to turn on the lamp sitting there. I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming. Dad was standing in front of my bed, a cute little calf wagging its tail at me as dad held the leash.

Unlike me, Lucy was a light sleeper. The second the light turned on, she sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Why are we up before the sun?" she asked before moving her hands and catching her first glimpse of the cow. "Scratch that last question. I would rather know why a cow is standing in the room."

"Rise and shine, girls!" dad replied, taking my arm and slipping the leash's handle over it. "It's the day before Thanksgiving and there's a lot of work to get done before the big day! Some of the family is showing up today so Lucy, you're in charge of - well, I'm not really sure what you're in charge of. Just go downstairs and do whatever Connie orders you to do."

Lucy groaned loudly.

"Can't I wait until a decent hour before transforming into a slave?" she wanted to know.

"Connie's already awake and requesting your help," dad explained before turning to me. "You, on the other hand, are in charge of bringing Daisy back to the neighbor's house and then going shopping. You get to handle the decorating this year."

"Aww!" Lucy's lower lip stuck out in a pout. "Why does Sonny get to do the fun stuff?"

"Yeah," I agreed, my voice mocking. "Why does Sonny get to do the fun stuff?"

I would've traded places with Lucy in a heartbeat. She was going to get to stay in the nice warm house all day long while I walked from store to store for who knew how many hours. I knew from years past that mom wasn't going to settle for a few paper turkeys here and there around the house. She wasn't going to be happy until everything looked like - looked like…

Well, she wouldn't be happy until the house resembled a Mackenzie Falls party: flashy attire no matter which direction you looked that would be considered cool but would cost less than five dollars.

"Sonny's in charge of the decorating because her mother said as long as she's healthy, there's no reason she can't do it," dad answered Lucy's question, his eyes on me. "Unless, of course, she's too sick to-,"

"Dad," I cut him off, jumping out of my bed and doing my best to push him toward the door. "I just told you, I have the fun job today! Why are you trying to take away my joy?"

Giving me a 'yeah, right!' look over his shoulder, dad started down the hall without saying another word. I turned to the calf beside me who was still wagging her tail happily.

"I can't believe dad really brought you in here, Daisy," I sighed, shaking my head back and forth. "I'm going to get her home before the neighbors start to wonder where their cow is. I'll catch you later, Luce."

"Have some fun for me!" Lucy called after my retreating back.

Daisy and I only made it as far as the kitchen (dad had to have started his cow-napping pretty early. The calf was slower than a snail on stairs) before we ran into our first visitor. A blonde haired boy sitting at my kitchen table jumped up the second he realized I was the one entering the room.

"Good morning, Sonshine," he greeted, coming up behind me so he could wrap his arms around my waist before leaning in to kiss my cheek.

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before."

"You haven't heard if from Chad Dylan - Did you know you have a cow bracelet?"

His voice trailed off in the middle of his name (had that ever happened before?). One of his hands grasped my arm as he pulled it to his shoulder, letting his hand rest on the leash as it slid down the hill my arm now created. It'd been a long time since he'd held me so close and something about being in his arms again made me laugh despite the anger I'd felt toward him the night before.

"Haven't you heard?" I asked him as I giggled like a school girl unable to keep her first secret. I hated the way he made me act. It seemed like the charm would've worn off at least some after all our time together. "Cow bracelets are really making a break-through in fashion right now."

He chuckled and I felt his fingers lightly brush against my skin as he ran them through my hair, tucking a few strands behind my ear. I regretted coming downstairs without spending any time freshening up first. I could only imagine how horrible I looked or how bad my breath was.

"Well, I can't risk not spending my day with someone as fashionable as you," he whispered into my ear. "I'm all yours today, Sonny. Anything you want to do, you got it."

I could feel my smile disappearing, my giggling over with, as I pulled away from Chad. He wasn't offering to hang out with me because he wanted to be nice. No, he was trying to get me to forget about last night and how he'd spent the night with Lucy instead of me.

If he thought he was going to get off the hook that easily after handing over our Twizzle Tuesday, one of the seven days it had taken us to finally get together, to another girl, even if it was only my best friend…That week meant too much to me for him to go off and celebrate it when I wasn't there.

"Sorry, Chad, but I can't hang out with you today," I said, tugging on Daisy's leash as I tried to lead her out of the room. "After I return my wake-up call, I have a full day of shopping ahead of me."

"That's perfect!" Chad followed behind Daisy, not seeming to notice my back was facing him. "I can go shopping with you and help carry your bags!"

My feet stopped moving as I slowly turned my torso toward him. Was he actually offering to help someone other than himself?

"Really, Chad?" I asked, my voice soft. "You would carry my bags for me?"

"No, no," Chad scoffed, giving me a look that suggested I was crazy. "I'll help you get other people to carry your bags for you. I am Chad Dylan Cooper, after all. People will do anything for me."

I should've known it was too good to be true.

"You're not in Hollywood anymore," I reminded him, turning around and tugging on the leash again. "People here probably don't even know who you are."

"That's impossible. Everyone knows who I am!"

When I kept walking instead of continuing the conversation, Chad spoke up again.

"So, am I going shopping with you?"

"I'll be going to more than a few stores. I'll probably be gone most of the day."

"So, am I going shopping with you?"

"I'm buying a lot of stuff. I'll have a bunch of bags and once my hands get full, I might ask you to carry some of them for me."

"So, am I going shopping with you?"

"So, can you be more annoying?"

Running ahead of me, Chad held open the front door as I led Daisy through. He kept it open once we were out, standing in the frame.

"So, am I going-,"

"Fine!" Man, could he be irritating! "Just make sure you're ready to go by the time I get back. I'm not waiting around all day for you to look perfect."

"Fine," he replied, smiling in his victory.

"Fine," I agreed.

"Good."

"Good."

"Fi-,"

"Chad…Just go get ready."

I heard the door close as I stared walking away and I knew he'd taken my advice. It was with mixed emotions that I made my way through the dark morning across the lawn to the pasture Daisy was supposed to be in. On one hand, I was really excited about getting to spend an entire day with Chad, but at the same time, I couldn't stop thinking about Tuberculosis.

According to Grandma Munroe, Tuberculosis could be passed by something as simple as breathing on someone. What if she was right about me having it? What if I was putting Chad at risk by being with him? Would a better idea be to call off all of today's plans and head to the hospital, doing more than sitting in the parking lot this time?

Shaking my head, I talked myself out of that idea. Dad was right last night. Hearing mom and Grandma Munroe talk so much was scaring me. I didn't have anything to worry about except my cold getting worse. There was no reason I couldn't enjoy my day with Chad.

…Was there?

* * *

I was happy when Sonny agreed to hang out with me, even if it was just for a day of shopping. It was only the two of us as we went from store to store without a Lucy tagalong which seemed to brighten both of our attitudes quite a bit. Sonny was acting like her old self as she joked around with me, demanding I stand still so she could place a braided black wig on my head. When she tried to slip a faux deerskin Indian outfit over me as well, I pushed her hands away.

"Aren't we supposed to be finding decorations, not costumes?" I asked.

"A costume could be a decoration," Sonny protested. When I shook my head, she sighed. "Oh, come on, Chad. Please try it on? You don't have to wear it for long. I just want to see what you would've looked like if you'd been born an Indian."

"What's the point in finding that out? It's not like we can go back in time and change my heritage."

"Hmm." Sonny moved slowly as she put the outfit back on the rack, her fingers lingering on the material. "It's a shame you won't even try it on. I bet you would've looked really hot in it."

"What are you trying to say? Don't you think I look hot in what I'm wearing now?"

As she turned her eyes in my direction, I spun around, giving her a chance to take in my clothing. My best pair of blue jeans, a tight-fitting black shirt that clung to my torso, not leaving much for the imagination…In my opinion, there was no such thing as a better outfit than that.

When I stopped spinning so I could smile cockily at my girlfriend, I was surprised to see her shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess you look alright," she commented in a bored voice. "Well, I guess we're ready to move on to the next store now. We still have a lot of shopping to do before we're done and - Chad?"

Realizing I wasn't following as she started walking away, Sonny turned around, her lips forming a smile as she saw what I was doing. For some reason I didn't understand, I was trying to slip the Indian costume on over my clothes. She rushed forward to help.

"I feel like I'm guest starring on So Random! again," I complained as Sonny got on her knees, tugging the fabric to make sure it was lying the way she wanted it to. "Can I take it off now?"

"Not yet." She jumped back to her full height, taking several steps backwards as she pulled a camera out of thin air. Looking into the lens, she gave me one simple order: "Smile!"

"Sonny, don't-,"

My protest was too late. The camera flashed, Sonny smiled as she waited for it to load so she could take another one, and I knew I had to get rid of it before any of my fans would see it. If they knew I spent my free time dressing up instead of working on my acting…

Not caring if Sonny was done taking pictures or not, I began to take off the costume. I felt her hands clasp over mine.

"No, no, no, no, no! Don't take it off yet! I want to get a picture of us together!" She tried to hand the camera over to a man passing by, scaring him half to death as she did so. "Excuse me, sir, but would you mind taking a picture really fast?"

"Sure," the man replied, seeming more than a little confused why he was being asked to take a picture inside a store (I would've felt the same way in his shoes. Most people, especially rich ones like Sonny, had cameras where they could delete a picture if it didn't turn out, thus not needing someone else to take the picture for them. Trust my girlfriend to have the oldest camera known to man). "Let me know when you're ready."

Sonny snuggled up close to my side, I wished I had anything but the costume on, and the flash blinded both of us. As Sonny went to retrieve her camera and I finally took off the costume, the man didn't move from his spot. Instead, his brow seemed to furrow like he was thinking about something.

"I'm sorry if this sounds really stupid," he said, reaching out gently for Sonny's arm. I stepped between the two of them before he could touch her. "You both look really familiar for some reason. I can't place my finger on where I've seen you before, but I know I have…"

Grabbing Sonny's hand, I tried to pull her out of the row we were standing in. The last thing we needed was the man to figure out who we really were and to make a scene. It would be much easier to just leave, letting the man figure out the truth once it was too late.

Sonny didn't follow me when I reached the end of the chain our hands created, instead staying rooted to her spot as she smiled at the man. Trust her to never know when it was time to leave.

"Maybe if you knew our names it would help spark your memory," she suggested to him. "I'm Sonny Munroe and this is Chad-,"

"Dylan Cooper!" the man finished for her. "Oh, I can't believe I'm actually meeting the two of you! My daughter is a big fan of both your shows. Would it be alright if I got your autographs?"

"We were just leaving-,"

"Sure!" Sonny's voice exclaimed over mine.

One autograph would've been fine. The man pulled out a book (why he carried around a special autograph book was a question I bit back behind a smirk) and Sonny and I both signed it. He thanked us over and over again as I finally started dragging Sonny away, hoping we were in the clear and no one else was going to recognize us.

I cringed when the man did the one thing I hoped he wouldn't do:

"Hey, everyone! The stars from Mackenzie Falls and So Random! are here!"

That one shout was all it took. Throngs appeared out of nowhere, staring at Sonny and I for about thirty seconds. During the short time frame, I watched as their mouths fell open, their eyes widened, and felt it as Sonny gripped my fingers too tight. She knew what was going to happen just as much as I did.

"Get them!" one voice ordered.

As one unit, they all rushed forward. Sonny seemed too stunned to move at first (I was used to screaming fans; it was a new thing to her) and I needed to pull at her several times before her feet finally started moving. By the time we reached the end of the row, we were both sprinting.

I could hear the thundering of feet as the crowd followed close behind. Many screams reached my ears as I continued on, most of them jumbling together into one huge mess, although a few select ones I was able to make out: "Chad, can't I have one picture with you?" "Sonny, you're my idol!" "Chad Dylan Cooper, will you marry me?"

"Come on," I whispered into Sonny's ear. "The only way we're going to get them to leave us alone is if we become mean."

"What do you mean by 'mean'?"

I reached into one of the bags I was holding after all the shopping. Getting my drift, Sonny shook her head back and forth quickly.

"No way!" she protested. "My mom will kill me if I show up without any Thanksgiving decorations!"

"Have it your way. Either let your mom kill you or we'll die when we tire out from running."

Already we were out of the store and running down the street, our fan base doing nothing but growing as they followed. Sonny grimaced as she reached into one of her own bags.

"Fine," she gave in. "But only throw stuff that won't really hurt them!"

"I hope they can withstand the pain of cut up pieces of paper," I mocked her, throwing a bag of confetti over my shoulder.

Other soft items joined the confetti but it still took until all the bags were empty before everyone took the hint. The yelling ceased as the stampede ended and Sonny, her hand still in mine, slowed us to a walk. She was panting heavily, her chest heaving up and down worse than I'd ever seen it do.

"I remember my first time getting chased," I nodded, hoping she couldn't tell I was out of breath, too. "You'll get used to it after hanging out with me in public more. You know how everyone goes crazy over celebrity couples - Sonny?"

All teasing was out of my voice when I felt Sonny's fingers gently pull away from mine. Before I could do more than turn to face her, she on her knees, gasping for air as she clutched her chest.

I was at her side in seconds, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and reaching for her hand with my other, patting her back, wondering if that would help her get air or make breathing even more difficult. She leaned closer to me, leaning her full weight against me as she started coughing. I felt like throwing up when I saw the colors that exited from her mouth.

"My chest," she panted once she was done coughing, her breath in short puffs.

"What about your chest?" I demanded, leaning in closer so I could hear her soft voice before changing my mind and backing up, giving her room to breathe. "Is it tight? Are you getting any air in at all?"

Sonny nodded before her eyes clenched shut. I could see her teeth grinding against each other and my guess was she was trying not to scream.

"My chest," she said again, still needing to speak through her puffs, "Feels like it's on fire."

I had no idea what to do as Sonny and I sat in the middle of the sidewalk. We were too far away for me to shout loud enough for anyone from her house to hear. Even if I took out my cell phone, I had no idea who to call. Was the emergency number the same here as it was in Hollywood? Would help be able to arrive before it was too late?

All I could think of to do was hug Sonny tightly to me as her panting grew worse. Just as I was beginning to pull my phone from my pocket, a loud beep made me look to the street.

A vehicle I knew only too well drove onto the sidewalk as it slammed on the brakes. Maybe it wasn't too late to get Sonny the help she needed.


	9. If Three's Not Company

Disclaimer: I don't own SWAC, the title reference to an episode (can anyone figure out which episode it's from?), or Pokemon

* * *

If Three's Not Company, Does That Mean A Bus Load of People Is?

Had Sonny not been in my arms, I would've killed the driver of the vehicle for parking on the sidewalk. My face took up an entire side of it; everyone knew who I was and would think I was promoting horrible parking jobs. I would have to find out who was driving my Mackenzie Falls bus later. For now, the important thing was getting Sonny help.

Only two people got off the bus once it stopped, both of them rushing toward me, pushing each other out of the way as they ran. One was Portlyn, seeming more interested in reaching my side than the shoving game Nico was trying to start. The tall, lean boy had a glower on his face I could make out long before he was anywhere near me.

Sick of his game, Portlyn stopped long enough to push Nico back, forcing him to the ground. Smiling at her own strength, she finished her jog to me, getting down on her knees and reaching for Sonny's hand.

"She can't seem to get enough air," I explained without needing to be asked. "She started coughing and she said something about her chest feeling like it's on fire!"

"Her pulse is way too fast," Portlyn concluded after keeping her fingers on Sonny's wrist for several moments. "We have to get her onto the bus and take her to the nearest hospital!"

Nodding my head, I began to shift, trying to get a better grip on Sonny as I moved one of my hands to rest under her knees. Just as I was beginning to stand, I felt a pair of hands cover mine as though they were trying to take Sonny away.

"I'll take her," Nico said firmly. "She needs someone who will take care of her right now."

His words hit me harder than I thought a Random would ever be able to hurt me. It was obvious, not only by his tone but also the glare as he let his eyes meet mine, what he was trying to accuse me of.

"You really think I'd do this to her?" Motioning with my head to the still coughing Sonny in my arms, I watched as Nico studied her face, not answering my question. "I've been with her for over a year and you still don't trust me at all, do you?"

Nico's silence was all the answer I needed.

"I know I haven't always been the nicest person when it came to your show. Heck, for the first two years of it, I could've cared less if it had gotten canceled! Since Sonny came along, I've tried being nice to you. I can't say I've always been successful, but have I ever done anything bad enough for you to think I would try to harm any of you?"

Once again, there was no answer. With his hands still covering mine, I felt him start to push away my fingers. He was still trying to steal my Sonny.

"Let go of her," he ordered me.

"Not in a million years."

A fight was going to break out. Nico wasn't giving up, his hands never letting go, and I wasn't going to hand over Sonny no matter what he thought I'd done to her. She needed me more than ever and I wasn't going to let anyone, even one of the cast mates she called her family, tear us apart.

Portlyn was at my side again, trying to push her way into the small gap between my body and Nico's. When neither of us budged, too busy having a stare down, she placed her hands on the Random's chest, trying to push him again. This time, he didn't fall so easily.

"Stop it, both of you!" she yelled when her other plans failed. "You're standing here fighting while the important thing is to get the one you're fighting about to help as soon as possible!"

"Actually, the important thing is to put the one you're fighting about down before you give her a headache."

In my desire to kill Nico, I failed to notice that Sonny had fallen silent in my arms. Her cough was gone, her chest was no longer heaving up and down, and her eyes were open as she glared up at me, daring me to try not following her command. Despite my better judgment, I let her stand on her own.

She stumbled at first but when I held out my hands to catch her, Sonny pushed them away. Grinning like he'd just won something, Nico reached for her hands.

"Come on, Sonny," he said, pulling her toward the bus. "You don't need to worry about Chip Drama Pants any longer. I'm here now and I have the rest of your friends with me. You're safe from the drama actors."

Just like I hoped she would, Sonny pulled her hands out of Nico's grasp, giving him a death glare.

"You need to stop finding every excuse you can to hate Mackenzie Falls. They aren't bad people and you know it deep down," she told him. When she rounded to face me, I forced the smile that had formed as she yelled at Nico away. "You need to explain to me why Nico and Portlyn and who knows whoever else is on that bus are suddenly in Wisconsin."

"Why do you automatically think it's my fault?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"The bus has your face on it. I think that's a pretty clear sign who's to blame here."

I couldn't help but smile as I turned my attention back to the blue bus.

"I do look good in that picture, don't I?"

Sonny slapped my shoulder, bringing my attention back to her as I rubbed the now sore spot she'd created.

"Are you trying to kill me by the end of this vacation?" she demanded. When I stood there, my mouth soundlessly opening and closing in shock, she went on. "As if my mom wasn't mad enough when you showed up in your private airplane. It was your idea to get rid of the decorations we spent all day shopping for, which she also won't be happy about, and now you went behind my back to invite your cast to my house?"

"It's not only his cast," Nico spoke up nervously. "Like I said, the rest of our cast is here, too, not to mention-,"

A little blonde blur picked that moment to run off the bus, nearly knocking Sonny off her feet as she jumped into her arms. It was with a very surprised expression that she looked down to the person she was now holding.

"Kimberly?" she asked, receiving a loud shouting of her name as an answer.

"The Cooper family," Nico finished his sentence lamely.

Sonny shifted her weight as she held Kimberly tighter, making sure she wasn't going to drop my younger sister. I knew I was in trouble yet again when she stared at me with those chocolate eyes of hers.

"Since this is all your fault, you're going to shop now and pick up all the decorations we just wasted," she stated in a 'You don't want to fight with me' tone. "I'm going to bring all of your guests home so I can help mom find them a hotel to stay at for the remainder of their visit."

"Wait!" Her back was already to me and when she turned around, I could've sworn she actually growled. "I'll get you more decorations and find everyone a place to stay, but you should go to the hospital, not your house."

"I don't need to go to the hospital. I feel fine now," she protested. "And don't even think about calling my house and warning my family about what happened to me just now. You owe me that much, Chad."

Without another word, she started walking in the opposite direction, going past the bus as though she couldn't see it, struggling under Kimberly's weight. Nico glared at me before getting back into the vehicle, probably telling whoever was driving to follow after Sonny.

Worried about my girlfriend (she'd gone from nearly passing out to storming away in anger within a few seconds), I knew better than to chase after her when she was so angry. Pleadingly, I turned to Portlyn.

"I'll follow her on foot so I can help if anything happens," she read my mind, already taking several steps ahead. Turning around to look at me once last time, she shook her head. "For the record, I did warn you not to invite everyone here."

"Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't follow advice from others!" I called after her retreating back. Knowing she was too far away to hear, I turned back the direction Sonny and I had just ran from, sighing as I started walking, shoving my hands into my pockets. "I'm great at getting in trouble all on my own."

* * *

I knew Portlyn was following behind me. At first she was running to catch up, which made me want to walk all the faster to get away. When she finally arrived at my side, she didn't start asking questions. She kept her mouth shut, waiting for me to say something before she did. Well, if that's what she was waiting for, she'd be waiting for a long time.

The last thing in the world I wanted to talk about was what Portlyn would want to discuss first: my condition as I laid in Chad's arms. I could only guess how bad it had looked (I knew how horrible I'd felt, like someone had literally taken a match and lit it inside my chest) and I was more than a little angry at myself for succumbing in the middle of the sidewalk. Everyone on the bus surely saw what was happening and it would be a miracle if they all kept their mouths shut about it. Someone would tell my parents, they would make me to go to the hospital and then-

Then my nightmare would come true. I would find out I did have more than a cold, So Random! would kick me off, Chad would get together with a new girl (or two or three), and things in Hollywood would go back to the way they'd been before I'd come along. What would I be left with after all that?

Perfectly sweet parents willing to do anything for me in hopes of mending the broken heart left in my chest.

Looking back and forth from my face to Portlyn's, it was Kimberly's voice that broke the silence between us.

"Sonny, are you mad?" she asked in a small voice.

"Mad?" I repeated her, laughing in what I hoped sounded like an 'as if!' way. "Why would I be mad, sweetie?"

"You yelled at Chad and now you won't talk to Portlyn at all." Her eyes grew bigger as she stared up at me. "I don't like seeing people fight. It makes me feel like crying."

To prove her point, Kimberly stuck out her quivering bottom lip.

"That's going to be exactly what my mom looks like when she sees all of you here," I muttered under my breath. Grunting softly, I set Kimberly down on her feet so I could swing my arm around Portlyn's shoulders. "See that? There's no anger here!"

"That's right!" Portlyn agreed.

Before we could say anything else, a loud screech echoed from behind us. Turning around, I saw the Mackenzie Falls bus, which was moving along at a slow pace behind us as it followed back to my house, slam on the brakes merely inches from a fire hydrant.

"Who's driving that thing anyway?" I wondered aloud.

"Grady," Portlyn and Kimberly answered in one voice.

"That would explain the horrible driving skills."

For some reason, Lucy was waiting outside when I walked up with one girl on either side of me and a bus trailing behind, a crunching under its wheels as it ran over my mailbox. Her mouth fell open as I stood by her, waiting for the bus to park and let out its passengers, figuring letting them all meet mom at once was better than only bringing a few into the house at a time.

"Portlyn!" Lucy exclaimed before shouting out every name as the long line climbed off the bus one by one. "Nico, Zora, Tawni Hart! Sonny, did you know you have a ton of stars standing in your backyard?"

"Trust me, they're not going to be here for long," I told her.

Lucy watched the huge line of stars for several minutes before asking me the question I knew was coming:

"Where's Chad?"

"I sent him back to do some extra shopping. I would be with him, making sure he's picking up the right stuff, but…" I motioned to all the people standing around us. "He kind of left me with a bigger situation to deal with."

Giving me an understanding smile, Lucy placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't say another word," she ordered me. "I'll go check on Chad while you take care of everything here."

"Uh, Lucy, that's not exactly what I meant-,"

I was too late. She was already taking off, waving at me over her shoulder as she ran. There was nothing I could do to stop her.

'Maybe it's better with her and Chad getting closer,' I thought to myself. 'If I really am sick, I would rather have the two of them become friends than keep hanging out with him and give him whatever I have.'

Still, I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I watched Lucy go.

"Can we go inside now?" Tawni's voice broke into my train of thought. The tween queen wasn't wearing clothes fit for Wisconsin at all and she was rubbing her shoulders vigorously. "I'm freezing!"

Nico, Grady, and the Mackenzie Falls actors all rushed to her, eagerly offering to warm her up. With a disgusted look on her face, Tawni pushed them away, walking over to the place Portlyn and I were standing.

"I hope your house is better than your apartment," she said, her head searching the house over my shoulder from basement to roof. "Otherwise, it'll never reach Tawni-standard."

"Can Tawni-standard include sharing a room?" I asked.

"Do I look like a kid who goes off to summer camp?" Tawni shot back. "My parents never sent me because of the whole sharing a cabin with a ton of other girls thing."

"Well…Does Tawni-standard include sleeping in a bus?"

The blonde wrinkled her nose like the most horrible smell in the world had just reached her nostrils.

"You're never going to make it through this week," I informed her, shaking my head.

Just as I thought would happen, mom wasn't happy when I led everyone into the house. She was sitting in the living room with not only dad and Grandma Munroe, but also a few new family members who must've arrived during the day (including two different aunts, one uncle, several cousins, and one really cute puppy). Mom pulled me away from everyone else so no one had a chance of over-hearing us.

"Family gets the rooms," was the first thing she said. "Everyone that arrived today have the rooms in the basement, Grandma Munroe keeps hers to herself, and your father and I aren't moving out of the living room. You need to find somewhere for everyone else."

"Can't I just find them a hotel?" I asked, not liking where this conversation was going.

"I'm not paying the bill for this many people to spend a night or two at even the cheapest hotel around!" Mom shook her head back and forth quickly. "They're your Hollywood friends, so you're in charge of them. Good luck."

I sighed loudly, wishing I was in Lucy's shoes instead of mine. My mind started to drift as I thought about what my two friends were up to…

* * *

I wasn't in a good mood. The only reason I'd gone shopping in the first place was so I could spend time with Sonny. Now she was gone, so there were no jokes to take my mind off what I was doing or direct me in the right direction of what to buy. Worse than that, I couldn't even look forward to seeing Sonny's smiling face upon arriving back at her house. If I knew her at all, there was no way she'd be over her anger in the few short hours before we'd see each other again. She'd be just as angry as she was when she stormed away.

Why did I have to be so good at making Sonny mad? Couldn't I do something right even one time?

Not able to remember all the decorations Sonny and I had paid for before throwing them at the fans, I had no idea what I was supposed to buy. Did her mom want party hats that said 'Happy Thanksgiving!' or visors with scared looking turkeys on top? Did she want paper plates that said 'Gobble up all your food!' or a life-sized pilgrim and Indian shaking hands with each other? What about a teepee big enough to set up several tables in and celebrate Thanksgiving that way?

So many choices, so many chances to make mistakes. Not knowing what I was doing, I closed my eyes and picked up the nearest item. As I turned my back on the aisle, ready to go pay for whatever it was, I heard laughter coming from behind me.

"My acting skills might be a lot worse than yours, but at least I beat you when it comes to decorating," a voice spoke up, gently taking whatever item was in my hand out. "I don't think Mrs. Munroe is going to want a piñata hanging above the kitchen table."

"I don't see why not," I teased, taking the piñata back from Lucy, hugging it to my chest. "I happen to think this…this, uh…"

I struggled, trying to think of what item the piñata was supposedly imitating. Lucy waited for me, smiling smugly. She knew the answer and was having too much fun watching me try to remember.

"Well, you get the point," I gave up. "I think this thing is very cute."

"So cute that you have no idea it's based off Pikachu," Lucy finally gave me the name I was fishing for.

Holding the piñata away from my face, I studied it, my brow crinkling as I did so.

"They really named this ugly little guy Pikachu? That name sounds like someone was in the middle of saying something else and ended up sneezing instead."

Lucy laughed as she took the Pokemon from my hands once again, setting it back on the shelf.

"How about we make a deal?" she suggested. "I'll take care of picking out everything and you'll cover paying for it."

"I think that's the best deal I've ever heard."

Lucy seemed to be a natural at picking out which items to buy and what ones to pass over (did all girls have to inherit the shopping gene?). Less than ten minutes after her arrival, we were leaving the store, bags upon bags in our hands. As Lucy started to head toward Sonny's house, I stopped her.

"Don't we have more shopping to do?" I asked. "Sonny made it sound like it would be impossible to pick up everything at one store."

"Sonny likes to shop and look around stores more than I do," Lucy replied before shrugging her shoulders. "If you really want to keep shopping, I guess we could…"

I grabbed her shoulders, turning her toward Sonny's house again.

"Keep walking and I may not break into your room in the middle of the night to kill you."

She scoffed (it takes a lot of nerve to scoff at someone like Chad Dylan Cooper!), breezily waving her hand in the air.

"Trust me, you won't want to break into my room," she explained. "It's the night before Thanksgiving; you're going to want all the sleep you can get."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I have to survive the Munroe family." I paused as we kept walking, our steps in time. "Do you have any last minute advice for me?"

Lucy was quiet but I knew she had heard me. There was a thoughtful expression on her face as she brought a finger to her chin, her eyes searching the stars shining above our heads.

The stars shining above us…Stars that were bright, but not worthy enough to have their own shows…

I couldn't help but smile as I remembered back to the first time I'd taken Sonny to Lookout Mountain. She had protested the first time I suggested going (she needed my help and didn't see how that was going to give her the help she wanted), saying it was a date place, although she didn't fight it too hard. It was her first time in my car with me, our first time holding hands, and she had even done the annoying laugh she did every time she grew nervous.

She'd been the Sonny I missed seeing now, the one who fought with me for fun, not out of spite. The Sonny who I would never admit to having a crush on and neither would she, no matter how much everyone else seemed to realize it. We were clueless about our feelings for each other and there was still a long waiting period before I would get up the courage to ask her out.

Sometimes, I found myself wishing Sonny and I could go back to that stage. Sure, there was a lot of fighting and tension between us, but in a lot of ways, it was better than what we had now. The fights were shorter and over dumber things, the flirting was greater and left me always begging for more.

Back then, I never had to worry about her falling limply into my arms after out-running a horde of fans.

"You have that look on your face again," Lucy commented, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Are you thinking about Sonny?"

"Yes…In a way." I could feel Lucy's eyes on me, begging me to go on. Not sure if I should or not, I took a deep breath. "Have you noticed a…change in Sonny recently?"

"You mean like how she's mad every time we spend time together?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, like that. And how touchy she's been lately. I can't do anything without setting her off, you know? It's just - just - I don't know. She's not acting like herself."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"She could just be getting stressed out about tomorrow. She's always loved spending time with her family, but her mom has been mad at her this year, and this is the first time she's had to deal with introducing a boyfriend to everyone." Her voice trailed off. "If you think it'll help, I can stop hanging out with you."

"Don't be ridiculous," I protested, putting my arm around her shoulders. "Sonny's friends with tons of guys, just like I am with girls. We're past the whole jealously part of our relationship."

It was with a smile that Lucy turned away, sidling deeper into my side. Instead of pushing her away, I tightened my grip around her.

"That's good," she confirmed as I felt her arm go around my waist. "Sonny has absolutely nothing to be jealous about."

"Nope," I agreed, taking the bags from her full hand and adding them to the collection I was already holding in mine. "There's nothing going on between you and me."

"Right," Lucy affirmed, resting her head on my chest. "We're nothing but friends."

"Friends who are free to hang out and talk about my girlfriend as much as we want to," I went on, my head leaning down until it was on top of hers.

"Uh huh." This time, Lucy sighed contently. "Friends who are free to do whatever we want without feeling guilty about it."

If that last part was true, why did my stomach feel like someone had just punched me?

One sniff of Lucy's hair later (a different fragrance than Sonny's, but exhilarating nonetheless), I told my stomach to shut up. I was only holding Lucy because it was cold out and I didn't want her to freeze before we reached the house. I wasn't cheating on Sonny. No way in this world was I falling for her best friend! Just because she was there whenever Sonny wasn't, she was easy to talk to, and I could feel my pace slowing as we walked on…Those weren't signs of a crush. Lucy and I were simply entering into a new stage of friendship.

The one important thing about our new stage was to never let Sonny find out about it.

* * *

Finding everyone a place to sleep wasn't an easy task. Not wanting Chad's parents to hate me for sticking them in any old place, I showed Mr. and Mrs. Cooper to the room Chad was staying in, knowing it would be cramped with the two of them, Kimberly, Bryson (yes, even Bryson had been on the Mackenzie Falls bus, home from college to spend the holiday with his family. The first time he caught my eyes, he gave me a seductive smile. I was very, very tempted to kick him in a very bad place), and Chad. At least they were all related and could handle tight quarters for the short time they'd be visiting.

I tried to get Nico and Grady to stay in one of the rooms next to the living room with the Mackenzie Falls actors, but when both groups started complaining less than five minutes later, I let my cast mates move one room over. Every room except the kitchen was officially full before I remembered I still needed a place to put the girls.

Portlyn and the other two Mackenzie Falls actresses took my room (I had no idea where Lucy and I would sleep, but I was sure I would think of something). When I tried telling Tawni she'd be in my room as well, she didn't agree. After she threw a (half hour long) tantrum, I put a sleeping bag in the bathtub and told her she could have the bathroom all to herself if she wanted her own room.

"Just make sure you either lock the door or sleep with the curtain shut," I warned her.

"Why?" she asked, looking confused.

"Tawni, this is the only bathroom in the house," I explained. When she continued to give me a 'so what?' look, I went on. "We have boys and girls staying at the house, so if someone needs to use the toilet…"

Finally catching on to what I was trying to say, I watched as Tawni's mouth fell open. "Eww!"

Going through a list in my head of who I had roomed and who I hadn't, there was only one person I could think of who didn't have a room yet: Zora. Finding her someplace to sleep wasn't the hard part of the night; no, that was trying to find her so I could give her a room assignment. No matter where I searched or what group of people I asked if they had seen her recently, the answer was always the same: she just left.

For some reason, I felt more tired than usual. Wanting to stay up until Chad and Lucy were back, I tried to stay busy by looking for Zora, but the more I ran from room to room, the more I just wanted to collapse and sleep. After nearly two hours of searching for my youngest cast mate, I finally collapsed on the staircase, using the wall beside me as a pillow. Just as my eyes began to close-

"Hiya, Sonny!"

Finally, Zora was no longer missing. Her voice came from above me and when I looked up, I could see her head popping out of the vent on the ceiling. 'I really should've seen that one coming,' I punished myself.

"Zora!" I exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief. "I've been looking for you all night! I wanted to let you know you can either sleep with Portlyn and the other girls in my room or with Tawni in the bathroom if you can get her to agree to share with you."

"Thanks for the offers, but it's pretty roomy up here, actually," Zora told me as she shrugged. "Well, I have some more exploring to do! I'll see you in the morning, Sonny!"

Without another word, she closed the vent and disappeared.

I decided against letting mom know one of the guests planned on sleeping in the vents (I wasn't sure if I would get in trouble for Zora's decision or not, and if mom told me to get her out, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it). Instead, I leaned against the wall again, this time not lifting up.

My eyes fell closed and I was asleep faster than the time it took to blink.

* * *

Mrs. Munroe was the one who greeted Lucy and I when we walked through the door. She warned us to be quiet, explaining in a whisper how no matter where we walked through the house, we were going to find people trying to sleep. It was a lot later than she'd expected to have us home (so maybe our pace had slowed down quite a bit more than the brisk one it had started at), but she led us into the kitchen anyway, letting us leave the bags on the table.

"I'm not sure where Sonny has everyone sleeping," she whispered apologetically. "I think the girls are all in her room, but I know you don't know them very well yet, Luce. You're welcome to sleep in Grandma Munroe's room. She's probably out by now and won't even know they're there."

Lucy smiled her thanks before heading up the stairs, stepping around something I couldn't see in the darkness of the room. Mrs. Munroe turned her eyes to me.

"Some of your friends are in two of the rooms in the hall," she told me. "You could try going up to your old room, but like I said, I have no idea who's sleeping there now."

"Thank you, Mrs. Munroe." I hesitated, knowing what I should say to her but unwilling to make my lips actually form the words. She stood there, waiting, her eyes never leaving my face. "I'm…sorry for inviting everyone here without consulting you first. I just thought maybe with Sonny being sick and all-,"

"She told you about that?"

I could feel my eyes narrowing.

"Told me about what?" I asked slowly.

"It's nothing. Forget I said anything." Mrs. Munroe started out of the kitchen, smiling at me gently as she left. "Have a good night, Chad. I'll see you, and all your guests, in the morning for a feast that's not anywhere big enough for this many people."

I cringed at her words, once again saying, "Sorry, Mrs. Munroe."

"It's not a big deal," she replied. "As I always say, the more the merrier!"

Well, at least she was in a better mood than I thought she would be. As she left me alone in the darkened room, I was about to head into the hallway to find my cast members when a soft snore caught my attention. Looking toward the stairs, I saw a lump was sitting there.

As I drew closer, joining the sleeping figure, it didn't take me long to recognize the silhouette. It was Sonny and, judging by the fact she was still in her clothes and looked rather uncomfortable with her head at an awkward angle, my guess was it had been a long night for her.

A long night that was all my fault.

Sitting down beside Sonny, I rested my head on her shoulder, silently begging her not to wake up at my touch. She didn't, her breath staying in the long drags most people had once they'd fallen asleep. It was nice to hear her breathing so easily again after the last time I'd seen her. It still scared me when I thought back to her attack, how she had seemed fine one second and was on the ground the next. I never wanted to see her suffer through that again whether I was with her or not. No one deserved what she had gone through.

Somewhere in the house, a clock was ringing. I counted each ring as it went off. One…two….three…Eventually, it reached twelve. It was midnight, the end of one day and the beginning of another. My chance to forget about my time with Lucy and focus on Sonny instead. My chance to not mess up our relationship again or cause another fight.

'I'll be the boyfriend she wants me to be,' I vowed to myself, smiling down at Sonny. 'I'm not playing any more games with her. For now on, I'm taking every part of our relationship seriously.'

"Happy Thanksgiving, Sonny," I whispered in a voice that was barely audible. "And welcome to your life with a new Chad."

Kissing her neck gently, I wrapped both my arms around her waist as I buried my head in the crock between her shoulder and cheek. It was a perfect fit, and with her body heat against mine, it was easy for me to fall asleep. Everything was peaceful, happy…

Too bad Lucy ended up being right about how stressful Thanksgiving could be.


	10. Thanksgiving Day Part 1

Credit for giving me the idea to use the Mackenzie Falls bus last chapter goes to:TrinityFlower of Memories

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. I think you know this part

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Thanksgiving Day:

Part 1

Thanksgiving morning was always hectic around my house. For some reason, mom volunteered to have the whole family over every year, even though she knew how much of a grouch she became as time grew closer and closer. Usually her and I were the ones who woke up at the crack of dawn to start getting the food ready, not getting a chance to sit down and rest until every last dish was washed, dried, and put away. I liked the past few years of celebrating the holiday in Hollywood. We woke up whenever we wanted, ate turkey in our pajamas, and were able to have the dishes done quickly since we only had to clean up after the two of us. I wasn't looking forward to returning the old tradition.

The kitchen was still dark, mom was nowhere in sight, and yet, my eyes were open. My neck was sore and stiff as I tried to sit up straight (maybe using the wall as a pillow hadn't been such a good idea after all). I reached up, trying to massage away the pain. My hand stopped when it came in contact with another face.

My first thought was to start screaming. Someone was sitting behind me, their hands on my waist. What if a robber had snuck into the house during the night? Could they be holding me so they would realize the second I woke up? Did they want to ransom me as some sort of hostage?

Easy breathing reached my ear, a small groan echoing it as whoever the person was started to wake up. I could feel my body start to ease as I recognized the deepness of the groan. There was nothing to be afraid of; the face I'd attacked belonged to none other than my boyfriend.

"Sorry," I apologized softly, not wanting to wake anyone else up at the early hour. "I didn't mean to wake you."

I couldn't see his face since he was sitting a few stairs behind me, but I knew he wasn't mad. His hands left my body and, as I turned to face him, I saw he was stretching them above his head, his mouth open in a huge O as he yawned. As the tiniest pieces of sunshine shone through the room, it was just bright enough to see his smile.

"Being woken up by you is nothing to be sorry about," he said in the same softness I spoke in. "If it had been anybody else, then it would've been a completely different story."

Laughter starting to form, I had to cover my mouth quickly in order to stay quiet.

"Don't make me laugh!" I ordered, tapping his knee as a scolding. "I don't want to be held responsible for causing anyone else to wake up. I doubt any of them would take it as good as you."

"Aww." Chad playfully stuck out his bottom lip, just as his sister had done the night before. "But I love hearing your laugh!"

"How do I know you're not lying? Maybe you don't like my laugh at all. You're only saying you do because you want me to laugh again so everyone will wake up and come after me with torches and pitchforks."

Chad shrugged his shoulders before answering.

"I guess it really is impossible for you to tell if I'm telling the truth or not, isn't it? After all, I am the greatest actor of our generation."

"Who's the greatest actress of our generation?"

He didn't take any time at all to think about his answer.

"That's an easy question: Selena Gomez!"

I was sure he could see my glare. Anyone within a five mile radius would be able to see it; that's how sharp it was.

"Well, you didn't expect me to say your name, did you?" He scoffed like he'd never heard a dumber thought. "Funny, funny little Sonny. You're not a better actress than Selena. She's been in real movies. You've been on one little comedy show."

Without waiting for him to insult me again, I began climbing to my feet.

"And that's exactly why my mom wanted me to get away from you over vacation. She didn't want me having to deal with your ego for a week that's supposed to be fun."

Before I could walk very far, I felt Chad's hand on mine, trying to pull me back to him.

"I'm just kidding," he defended himself quickly. As I sat down again, this time fitting in the space between his legs, using his chest as a backrest, he added, "Miley Cyrus is much better than Selena."

His hands wrapped around my waist, keeping me from standing as he chuckled in my ear.

"You know I'm messing with you. Of course you're the greatest actress of our generation. Why else would I be dating you?"

"I could think of a few other reasons," I suggested, starting off by holding one finger in the air. "You think I'm cute, you would get jealous if I was with another guy, examples being James and Hayden, you've had a secret crush on me since I moved to Hollywood, and, oh yeah, did I mention the fact you think I'm cute?"

Pushing my hand back to my side, Chad let his fingers twine with mine, stopping me from going on with my list.

"So basically what you're saying is we're always going to be together just because I think you're cute and would get jealous if you were with anyone else?" he asked, summing up my speech. When I nodded my head, he gave my hand a light squeeze. "I was hoping I'd be able to upgrade someday, but I guess if I had to end up falling, I'm glad it was with you. Spending my life with you isn't the worst fate I can think of."

"No?" My curiosity struck, I had to ask my next question. "What is the worst fate you can think of? It must be pretty bad if it beats marrying me."

"Oh, it's bad alright," Chad agreed as I tossed back my head, staring at his upside down face. "I'll give you a hint what it is: it involves spending my life with someone other than you."

One name popped to my head and was out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop it.

"Lucy?"

I hated to admit it, but my voice sounded almost hopeful as I said her name. It was wrong of me to think of her first; Chad had already told me multiple times there was nothing happening between him and her. Still, after seeing her smile as she took off to look for him last night and the fact that they had been gone for a good chunk of the evening, no one but the two of them around…

Could I really be blamed for feeling a tad bit jealous? Not only was Lucy the first one around to greet Chad upon his arrival, but she wasn't the one stuck with a family trying to tell her she had some sort of illness. Because she was in no danger, not only could she keep her happy demeanor as they conversed, but she also had the day free to give Chad the attention he wasn't getting from me. She was the one who got to ice skate with TV's Chad Dylan Cooper. I was the one sitting in my living room fretting about where my two best friends were.

Over the course of the week, it felt like Lucy had spent more time with my boyfriend than I had.

Part of me was happy to see Chad and Lucy bonding. Being friends with both of them would be easier to achieve if they got along with each other. The (small) bit of my mind wondering if Grandma Munroe was right about Tuberculosis also felt glad about the bond taking shape. Neither of them needed to be spending time with me if they'd end up catching the disease too. The last thing I wanted was to put them through the worry I was facing.

Another part of me, the side that knew I only had some sort of cold, shouted at me to break off the friendship between my boyfriend and my best friend before it was too late. There was no reason for them to become too close. I was still around most of the time (granted, I was a little bit crabbier than usual, but who wouldn't be when they had no idea what was wrong with their body?) and could easily find activities for the three of us to do instead of sending them off on their own.

It was a tough place for me to be. Half of me wanted to push Chad away for his sake, the other half wanted me to hold onto him tighter than ever before. Which argument was the right one to listen to? Which was the best to ignore?

"Lucy isn't the name I was going to say," Chad continued our previous conversation, "But I am glad you brought her up. I wanted to talk to you about her."

I could feel my heart freezing, my breath catching in my throat. Chad wanted to talk to me about Lucy. That could only mean one thing: he was going to do the same thing dream Chad had done. He was going to tell me we were over, that he wanted to dump me and get together with my best friend. Whatever words would leave his mouth next weren't going to be good ones.

"I don't want to spend any more time with your best friend."

"Look, I know I haven't been hanging out with you as much as I should be, and I also-,"

Slowly, my rebuttal died out as Chad's words began to sink in. Rewinding the past thirty seconds in my mind, it dawned on me that Chad hadn't said he was dumping me. Actually, it sounded almost like he'd said the exact opposite of that.

"For the majority of my visit here, I haven't spent much time with you," he went on, his fingers of his free hand lightly brushing my hair. "The only reason I came to Wisconsin in the first place was so we could celebrate Thanksgiving together. Instead all I've done is make you jealous of something that doesn't exist between me and Lucy. I don't want to waste any more time than I already have. For the rest of my stay here, I want to spend every minute with you, and for those moments we can't spend together for some reason or another, I want to be thinking of ways to keep you happy and away from the fights we've been having lately. I want to make this your best Thanksgiving ever."

Something about Chad's words, the sincerity I could hear backing them up, the desire in his eyes as he stared into mine…I felt a change fall over me. He was being honest, apologizing for something that wasn't his fault, saying the words I should've been saying to him instead of the other way around. It was my fault we hadn't spent time together, not his.

Knowing I should voice my own apology back while Chad sat there, waiting for my response, I thought of a better reply. With my head upside down to him, I clutched at his shirt, pulling his face down to mine. It was the same kind of kiss I'd always called a Spiderman Kiss (in one of the movies starring the superhero, he had kissed a girl while hanging upside down). After seeing how romantic the kiss was on-screen, I vowed to myself my life wouldn't be complete until I received my own Spiderman Kiss.

There was a surprised look when Chad pulled away from me, actually breathing heavily. He stared down at me, his eyes huge.

"What was that for?" he asked, his voice in the high pitch he used whenever he was nervous or excited.

"I don't know," I replied truthfully. "I just…I just felt like it was a good choice of words." Snuggling deeper into Chad's grasp, I changed the topic. "So, if Lucy's not the person you dread spending your life with, who is?"

"What?" Chad sounded confused for a moment. "Oh, you mean the person who'd be worse than being stuck with you for the rest of my life? Yeah, the name I was going to say was-,"

Before the words could leave his mouth, a loud shout came from above our heads. I sighed as Chad put his lips to my ear.

"I think we're not the only two awake," he whispered. "Maybe, if we're quiet, they'll never figure out we're not sleeping."

"How are we going to be that quiet when we're sitting here talking-,"

He hushed me by kissing me again. As much as I wanted to stay there with him, it took all my energy to push him away and climb to my feet. If we stayed where we were, on the steps where anyone could see us, we'd get caught and my parents wouldn't be happy if they saw my early morning activity. Besides, it was my house, which meant it was my duty to make sure everyone was happy. Somehow, I didn't think screaming, at least in that tone, was a happy thing.

* * *

Something was different about Sonny and whether it was because of my promise to her or because it was a holiday and she was naturally happy I didn't know. Whatever the reason was, it seemed like I was talking to someone else than the girl who had been around through the break. She talked, she laughed, she joked around, and the kiss she gave me left me breathless for the first time in awhile. As she took off running up the stairs, she even let me take her hand and follow at her heels. She had changed over night, just like me, and so far, I was liking the difference.

Once Sonny and I were on the second level, it didn't take long to find out where the scream had come from. Portlyn, Chloe, and Penelope were gathered outside the bathroom door, Penelope in front of the other two girls as she pounded on it loudly.

"Hey!" Grabbing her wrist, I pulled her away from the door. "There are still people trying to sleep! You can't just go around making all the noise you want!"

"I'll be quiet after I get into the bathroom," she retorted, glaringat the closed door. "No one has been able to get inside all morning!"

"Are you really stupid enough to not know how to open a door?" I asked her.

Opening her mouth as though she was going to argue with me, Penelope changed her mind at the last minute.

"If you think it's so easy, why don't you give it a shot?" she suggested.

"I will. Prepared to be dazzled."

Trying to prove my point, I walked up to the door, smiling over my shoulder at my cast mates as I put my hand on the doorknob. I twisted, expecting the door to fly open as they always did.

Instead, nothing happened. The door stayed shut and, when I tried twisting again, I got the same result.

"Uh, Sonny? I think your door is broken."

Pushing me aside, Sonny shook her head as she tried opening the door as well.

"It's not broken," she explained, giving my cast mates an apologetic look. "I told Tawni she could sleep in there. She must've taken me seriously about keeping the door locked."

I felt more than a little confused by her words.

"Tawni's sleeping in the bathroom?" I asked, waiting for Sonny's confirming nod. "Um…May I ask why? I mean, I know you Randoms are used to things that aren't top of the line, but using a bathroom as a bedroom?"

"I don't care why she's in there," Penelope spoke up before Sonny could say anything. "All I know is I haven't brushed my hair in at least eight hours! I need to get some make-up on before anyone sees me looking this hideous!"

The small hallway grew loud again as Penelope and Chloe started banging on the bathroom door, Sonny begging them to stop before people began to wake up. Her warning was too late; Lucy, Grandma Munroe, and my family were all coming out of their rooms (had Sonny really expected me to sleep in the same place as my family?), trying to figure out what was going on.

It wasn't long before the people downstairs started waking up as well, hearing all the banging and shouting. Mrs. Munroe was the first one to run up the stairs, turning angrily to her daughter.

"What's going on up here?" she demanded, pulling Sonny out of the midst of people, directing the question at her.

All the voices answered her at once, surprising her into a state of shock as she tried to take in all the complaints. I seemed to be the only one who noticed Sonny slip away, heading back to the bathroom door. Joining her, we both pressed our ears against it. I had no idea what we were listening for.

"I don't hear her moving around in there," Sonny observed quietly. "Maybe she's still asleep and has no idea people are out here waiting to get in."

"Yeah, like anyone could sleep through all that noise!"

The voice sounded muffled and familiar. As Sonny and I exchanged looks, we realized at the same time what it was: Tawni was talking to us from the other side of the door.

"Tawni!" Sonny glanced nervously to her mom, making sure she wasn't listening in. When I gave her a questioning glance, she told me, "Tawni wanted her own room to stay in last night and the only one I had to offer her was this. I didn't exactly tell mom about it."

"So we have to get her out without your mom finding out there's someone in there?"

"Pretty much."

I turned my attention back to the door. "Did you hear that, Tawni? We need you to come out before Sonny gets in trouble!"

"I'll be out in a few hours," the Random informed me, "After I get a chance to get in my beauty sleep!"

"There's no time for beauty sleep! I order you to unlock this door right now!" I ordered, using the firmest voice I could muster.

"If I listened to you, I would've quit So Random! years ago when you told me it was pointless when I was trying to compete with a show like Mackenzie Falls. I didn't listen then and I'm not listening now!"

Sonny was starting to get nervous. She wouldn't stop looking from the door to her mom, who was still surrounded with guests trying to tell her about the situation at hand. I wished I could think of something, anything, to help her, but not even Chad Dylan Cooper could walk through a locked door.

When a short figure jumped out of the wall (or rather the vent near the floor), Sonny jumped into my arms, clutching at her heart. It was only Zora and, judging by the smile on her face, she had an idea.

"I know how to get Tawni to open the door!" she exclaimed proudly.

"Really?" Sonny asked her, all smiles until her face became serious. "Why don't you tell me what the plan is before I let you go ahead and try it?"

Rather than answering, Zora's eyes turned to the vent. I was lost, but Sonny smiled again as she nodded her head.

"Hurry up, and make sure you escape the same way you go in so it looks like Tawni's the only person in the bathroom," she ordered.

"You got it!"

Without another word, Zora disappeared back into the vent she'd jumped out of less than a minute ago.

"Wait. What is she going to do?" I asked quickly, not liking being left out in the dark about whatever plan had just been devised in front of my face.

"Oh, you weren't able to understand that?" Sonny's voice actually sounded surprised. "Zora's going into the bathroom through the vent to unlock the door and then is leaving the same way. Once the door is open, Tawni will have no choice but to come out and give someone else a turn."

I stared at her in disbelief.

"You got all that just by one glance at a vent?" She nodded her head and I shook mine. "Remind me to never hang out with your cast too much. I don't want to get stuck knowing your secret language."

"It's not a secret language," Sonny protested. "Everyone on my cast speaks English, the same as you and-,"

Her words were lost as Tawni's voice started shouting from inside the bathroom.

"Zora, what are you doingin here? Haven't you ever heard of knocking? Wait…Why are you walking toward the door? If you open that thing, you're going to majorly regret it. Zora, I'm warning you. Zora!"

The door opened, the shouting around Mrs. Munroe ended, and as a very angry looking Tawni stormed out of the bathroom, everyone standing around took off, trying to beat each other inside. I pulled Sonny out of the way quickly, not wanting the mob to run over her as they sprang.

A very tired and confused Mrs. Munroe stared at Sonny and I for several long moments, her eyes open wide as they tried to take in the morning's events to this point.

"I have no idea what just happened," she finally concluded, "And I don't think I want to know. Why don't you two come down to the kitchen and help me get the food ready for later?"

Sonny held out her arm, stopping me from following as her mom turned her back, starting to head back toward the staircase.

"You want Chad to help us with the food?" she asked before looking at me. "We always take care of the baking and everything on our own, just the two of us girls. We've never let anyone help us with it before."

I understood why she'd stopped me from going to the kitchen. Her mom was inviting me to take part in a tradition I shouldn't be invited to do, a mother/daughter thing I would be butting into. It would be a wiser decision for me to turn down the offer.

Or should I accept it? Mrs. Munroe hadn't exactly been welcoming to me since I had arrived in her backyard. Was her inviting me to take part in the tradition a way of letting me know I was forgiven?

Mrs. Munroe studied my face before nodding her head.

"I do want Chad to help us out this year," she answered Sonny's question. A smile crossed her features. "I have a special job I need the two of you to do."

My nervous look was reflected in Sonny's eyes. Either her mom was trying to scare us or we were in for something really, really bad. I hoped for the first one.

"By the way," I said, reaching for Sonny's arm before she could follow after Mrs. Munroe. "The worst person I can think of to end up with is Tawni. Can you imagine having to put up with her beauty sleep every single morning? She'd have me going crazy in less than a day!"

Sonny smiled, I slid my arm around her, and together, we walked toward the fate awaiting us in the kitchen.


	11. Thanksgiving Day Part 2

Disclaimer: still own nothing, thanks for asking

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Thanksgiving Day:

Part 2

The two tasks Mrs. Munroe gave us seemed easy enough: 1. Keep everyone out of the kitchen so she was free to bake. 2. Since she needed the oven for other things, Sonny and I were to take the turkey out to the garage's oven and make sure it got cooked.

"I still don't understand why you have an oven out here," I said, sitting on the hood of the Munroe's car, watching as Sonny tried to set the oven to the correct degree. "Doesn't it seem a little unsanitary to cook food in the same place you keep poison?"

"What are you talking about?" She didn't turn to face me, too busy spinning the dial to the exact temperature her mom had told her. "There's no poison in here."

"Oh, really, Sonny? Then what do you call this?"

She glanced at me over her shoulder, a dubious expression in her eyes until she saw the box I was holding up. I watched as her mouth fell open in surprise and she sprang forward, reaching to take the box. Already higher than her thanks to the car, I was easily able to pull it out of her reach.

"Do you really think it's smart to hold poison in your hand like that?"

"Do you really think it's smart to have poison out in the open where everyone can see it?" I shot back. "What if the police showed up and started searching your house? They could find this stuff, think you're trying to kill someone, and you'd be taken to live in some nut house instead of your cozy little Hollywood apartment."

Only because I wasn't expecting it (she was still standing with a gap between our bodies before suddenly lunging forward), Sonny was able to grab my arm with both her hands, pulling it down low enough she could pry my fingers off the box. She studied it for less than thirty seconds before looking at me.

"I don't think the police will be taking me away anytime soon," she stated. "They'll probably think I'm using this stuff to get rid of mice like the instructions say to do."

With one flick of her hand, she tossed the box back to me. This time, I looked at the front instead of the back. Sure enough, there was a huge picture of a mouse with a red X going through his body.

"Oh." Unsure what to say in the silence that followed, I began tossing the box into the air, catching it every time it came back to me. "Well, that still doesn't explain why you have an oven in your garage."

"Give me the turkey before you drop that box and the poison explodes everywhere," Sonny ordered, holding out her hands expectantly. I handed her the huge pan setting on the car beside me, jumping to my feet when she almost fell from the weight of it. With her shoulder, she pushed me away, heading toward the open door of the oven. "We had this thing added in a few years ago. Dad saw how hectic things were for mom and I every Thanksgiving morning and thought having two ovens might help us out."

I didn't sit down again as Sonny heaved the pan onto the top rack in the oven, giving the door an extra tap as she shut it, making sure no heat could escape. Once she was done with that, she stood on her tiptoes, checking the dial one last time. Finally, she turned around-

And jumped what had to be a foot into the air when she noticed how close I was standing to her.

"Don't do that to me!" she exclaimed, slapping my shoulder. "There's a hot oven right behind me! What if I had jumped into it?"

"Are you sure you shouldn't be a full time actress on Mackenzie Falls? You're doing a great job at coming up with drama this morning. First you were afraid of me poisoning the turkey, now of touching a hot oven…What will happen next? The suspense is killing me!"

Sonny didn't find the joke as funny as I intended it to be. She didn't crack even the smallest grin before pushing her way past me, her arms folded over her chest.

"If you're done making fun of me, you're welcome to come back inside," she said coolly, already standing in the doorframe leading back into the house. "On the other hand, if you plan on doing nothing but annoying me, you can stay out here and watch the turkey for the next few hours."

"Aww, come on!" I did my best to sound hurt. "I can't annoy you at all if I come in? But I'm Chad Dylan Cooper! It's my job to annoy you!"

"It's my job to keep you in line," she shot back. "Sorry, but it's my house, which means you have to follow my rules. You're in Munroe Territory now, Cooper."

She didn't move as I stepped closer to her, quickly closing the distance between us. It wasn't long before we were both standing in the tiny doorframe, our bodies resting against each other for lack of space. I lowered my head, letting our foreheads meet.

"What, exactly, does Munroe Territory mean for me?" I asked softly.

"It - It means…" I could tell Sonny was trying unsuccessfully to form a coherent sentence. A year with me and she still fell victim to everything about me. "It means you can't do anything involving drama. No one-man speeches, no fake crying, no pauses for dramatic effect…For the rest of your visit, only comedy is allowed."

I was silent for several moments, thinking over her rules. Her body was trembling under my touch and I couldn't help but smile. I was going to push it a little bit farther.

"I want to kiss you one last time before we spend the day keeping everyone away from your mom," I whispered, letting my lips linger close to hers. Her breath became shaky as she prepared for the moment, waiting for me to do more than just speak about the action. I hovered above her, making sure she was able to smell my breath as her eyes fell shut. "But I'm afraid kissing you wouldn't count as 'funny', and Chad Dylan Cooper isn't wasting his day watching a turkey cook. Sorry!"

Before Sonny had a chance to react, I took off running. I could hear her following behind me, but it was too late for her to give me the punishment I knew was coming.

We were in the living room where a very tired group of Randoms and my cast sat, all looking ready to kill each other. We had a dispute to end that was more important than our own.

* * *

I was about to ask the two casts what was wrong when I noticed dad sitting across the room from me in front of the fireplace, waving happily. A bad feeling shot through my stomach, telling me he was the cause of all the glares.

"Sonny! I was just getting to know your cast," he said, nodding toward the Mackenzie Falls actors, "And Chad's!"

Instantly I knew what the problem was: everyone was getting mad because dad had mixed up the two shows.

"If he compares me to a Random one more time…" Devon's voice trailed off, his hand balling into a fist.

"Yeah, like it's a joy for us to be thought of as a bunch of over-dramatic actors," Nico shot back.

When Devon jumped to his feet, his eyes on Nico, it took all of his fellow cast mates, including Chad, to keep him from starting a fight.

"You might want to get your dad out of here," Trevor warned. "I don't know how long we'll be able to hold Devon back."

I rushed over to dad's side, dragging him to his feet. He sounded confused as I led him out of the room, asking over and over again what he had done. It wasn't until we reached the room's entry that his smile grew again, his eyes flying toward the front door.

"I can't leave yet," he told me. "Everyone's finally here! I want to see you introduce them to all your friends."

Sure enough, the door was open wide as all the family sharing Thanksgiving dinner with us came through, somehow all arriving at the same moment as they did every year. I gave them all a smile before turning my attention back into the room. Devon was still being held back, but without me to tell them to sit down and behave, Nico and Grady were on their feet, getting as close to Devon as they dared to go, shooting him every snide remark they could think of.

This introduction wasn't going to go smoothly.

* * *

"Step into the living room, everyone!" I heard Sonny say in a loud voice. "I have some people I would like you to meet!"

She sent me a helpless look and I knew what she was trying to say: please at least make everyone look like they're having fun. As quickly as I could do it, I was on my feet, ordering my cast to sit down and smile if they didn't want their characters to suddenly 'disappear' on the show. Nico and Grady weren't so easy. They knew I had no power to threaten them. In a last attempt, I put an arm around each of their shoulders, forcing them to rejoin Tawni on the couch, only now it was squished with me sitting between the two males.

There was no time for me to rejoin my cast. A crowd of people stood behind Sonny, peering in and gawking like they were watching animals at a zoo.

"So, these are a few of my friends who will be sharing Thanksgiving with us this year," Sonny started off, motioning for me to join her. I stayed where I was. If Lucy's warning was right, I didn't want to get near the Munroe family. "Friends, this is my family. Ok, now you all know each other, so I believe my job is-,"

"Just starting," Mr. Munroe finished her sentence, grabbing Sonny's shoulder as she tried to walk away. "I won't make you introduce all your friends. They can take care of that. I do want you to make sure Chad knows who everyone is though."

"Oh, but I already do!" I called out quickly. "See, this is Nico and Grady, and Tawni beside them, and then over there is Chloe, Penelope-,"

Sonny wasn't the only one who glared at me. This time, Mr. Munroe joined in before waving me over.

"I'm serious, Chad," he said. "I want you to come over here and meet the family."

Trying to look happy, I made my way over to Sonny's side, lightly slipping my arm around her waist. She sent me a 'sorry I have to do this' face before taking a deep breath.

"I'm going to make this as easy as possible and just go straight down the line," she explained before her voice grew as fast as an auctioneer's. "First up are my other grandparents, then my Uncle and Aunt with my favorite little one year old cousin, and my other uncle and aunt with all my other cousins." She turned her brown eyes in my direction, taking in what had to be a surprised expression on my face. "Yeah…I have tons of uncles and aunts. My parents both came from big families. If you want to know my cousins by name, I'm sure they'd be happy to-,"

Her sentence was cut off when Tawni pushed her way between us.

"Sonny," she said in that fake happy voice I'd heard her use around my girlfriend quite a bit. It was the voice she used when trying to convince someone she was best friends with Sonny. "Don't you feel silly trying to keep me away from your family! Everyone deserves to know someone as pretty as I am!"

"Uh…I guess I could introduce you by name," Sonny said slowly, sounding more than a little surprised by Tawni's enthusiasm. "Guys, this is-,"

"Tawni Hart."

One of the many cousins stepped forward, walking toward the shocked blonde. He reached out for her hand and she gave it to him, the smile on her face huge.

"I have watched So Random! for years just so I could see you," he explained. "My name is Taylor and I am your biggest fan."

To prove his point, Taylor took the hand he was still clutching and brought it to his face, kissing it. Tawni giggled and Sonny and I exchanged glances over the couple. At least I wasn't the only one freaked out by the stalker's confession and Tawni's reaction to it.

The family members who had come the day before came up from their downstairs cavern at this point, walking a puppy on a leash at their side. Wanting to make a good impression on at least part of Sonny's family, I joined them.

"That's such a cute puppy!" I said, putting my acting skills to the test as I tried to sound happy. "What kind is it?"

"She's an American water spaniel," the aunt holding the leash stated proudly. "I named her Princess."

Princess started wagging her tail as I got to my knees, pawing at me as she begged for attention. Before I could do more than extend my hand toward her, the aunt scooped the puppy into her arms.

"Don't touch my baby!" she cried in alarm. "I saw what you did to those other dogs, you little puppy shover!"

I felt my mouth fall open.

"But-But…Didn't you see the other interview?" I demanded as I climbed back to my full height. "I built houses for the dogs, remember?"

"Oh, you mean the interview where you made my niece out to look like a diva?" The aunt shook her head. "That's two strikes against you. Want to try for a third?"

Not quite sure what to say after that, I was thankful I didn't have to think of anything. Lucy, Kimberly, and Zora bounded into the hallway at that moment, working together to carry a long box.

"Who wants to play Monopoly?" they asked in unison.

* * *

After watching through the awkwardness of the introductions, dad promised to keep the family out of the kitchen if I took care of everyone else. With the exception of Taylor, I was left in the living room while dad took the family into another room, my cast and Chad's cast and Lucy and Kimberly all helping to set up the Monopoly board.

"Your family is strict," Chad whispered to me. "I can't pet a puppy just because of an interview that took place who knows how long ago?"

"Maybe it is a good thing you brought all our Hollywood friends here," I shrugged. "Otherwise, I would be helping my mom bake and you'd be stuck with my family all day long."

I watched as Chad shuddered at the very thought.

"Someone is helping your mom this year, right?" he asked. "I didn't steal away her only helper, did I?"

"I think Grandma Munroe is helping her, along with your parents," I replied, trying to remember who all had been in the kitchen last time I'd snuck a glance, just to make sure my help wasn't needed. "She has more help than she's had in past years."

"Well, that's good news," Chad nodded. "For a second, I was afraid I might have to volunteer to help out, and Chad Dylan Cooper never volunteers."

All I had time to do was slap his shoulder playfully before Lucy started speaking. It looked like it was time to start the game.

"We have way too many people in here to play with everyone on their own," she stated the obvious. "I say we split into teams!"

Kimberly came running to Chad and me, jumping into my lap as she shouted, "I want to be on Sonny's team!"

"Why does she always pick my lap instead of yours?" I demanded as I tried to adjust Kimberly, not wanting my legs to fall asleep in the state she left them in after jumping. "You're her older brother; I'm just the innocent girlfriend."

"I don't know," Chad answered with a shrug. "I guess she just likes you. It must run in my family."

"Ok, so we have team Cooper over there," Lucy stated, going on before I could inform her my last name wasn't Cooper. "Anyone else have special teammates they want?"

Other than team Zora, Portlyn, Tawni, Taylor, all the teams were divided by show. Nico and Grady wanted to be their own team, although they did let Lucy join them. Devon and Trevor and Penelope and Chloe joined together and finally, the game began.

It didn't me long to figure out everyone had been inside for too long. At first the fights were small and over simple things, but gradually they began to grow. Once again, Nico and Grady teamed up against Devon as they fought over the price of a piece of land the Falls actor was auctioning off. Penelope and Chloe fought with Zora about how my youngest cast mate couldn't use the excuse she was traveling through the vent to get out of paying for landing on their property. Lucy was the loudest of all, shouting at everyone else to please shut up. Tawni and Taylor ignored the entire scene, talking to each other, and in my lap, Kimberly stretched her arm forward, taking money from the bank while no one was watching. Portlyn sent me a 'please make it stop!' look.

I did as Portlyn asked. The room fell silent when I tipped over the entire Monopoly board.

"Oops! I am so sorry, everyone!" I lied as I handed Kimberly over to Chad so I could climb to my feet. "So, who wants to play football?"

* * *

It was the prefect way to get the fighting out of everyone's system. Being outside in the fresh air wouldn't only give them a chance to get out of the stuffy house (it was too warm inside with all the work going on in the kitchen), but on top of that, there was plenty of room to shout at each other. Sonny's idea to play football was great. Devon would have an excuse to tackle someone.

I used the cold as an excuse to keep Kimberly inside. Sure, it was chilly, but the real reason I wanted her in the house was because I wasn't sure how messy the football game was going to be. The last thing I needed was for mom to yell at me for letting her little girl get injured.

"Don't worry," Lucy reassured me as she stood in the doorway, the crowd of people heading outside around us, her hands on Kimberly's shoulders to keep her from following. "I'll take good care of your sister."

"And I'll help," Taylor said, coming up behind Lucy. "I don't want to go outside. I have a cold starting, and instead of letting it get worse, I think I'll wait in here."

Him speaking about a cold reminded me of Sonny and how she probably shouldn't be outside either considering the way she'd nearly fainted yesterday. I thought about reminding her and suggesting she stay inside, but I had a feeling she wasn't going to listen no matter what I said. She hadn't so far when it came to the coughing fits; why would she start now?

"Hey," Lucy stopped me, grabbing my arm as I turned to leave. She lowered her voice even though Taylor was already heading off to the other room. "What do you think of the Munroe family so far?"

"Well, they certainly aren't the nicest people in the world, but they don't seem as bad as you made them sound either," I replied. "What were you doing, trying to scare me into leaving when you warned me about them?"

There was a mischievous smile on Lucy's face as she winked at me.

"Just wait until after the meal tonight. You'll find out if I was kidding or not."

I didn't get a chance to ask what she was talking about. Without waiting for me to do more than open my mouth, Lucy slammed the door in my face. Wondering if I should open it and demand to know what she meant, I heard yelling and decided against it. It sounded like Sonny was going to need my help.

The yelling ended up belonging to my cast as they shouted out my name. They were standing close to the Randoms, Sonny on the invisible divider between the two groups, a football in her hands.

"Let me guess," I said upon meeting up with everyone. "These are the teams we're playing on?"

"Technically, you and Sonny still need to pick your teams," Portlyn explained, rolling her eyes to prove she thought the rivalry between the two casts was stupid. "You've both been on both shows, so you need to pick which team you want to play for now."

The backyard fell silent as I met Sonny's eyes. She was reflecting back the same question running through my mind: what was the best way to divide up?

"Want to make this easy?" she asked, the first to speak. "I'll go with my cast and you can go with yours. Then it'll really be Randoms vs. Falls."

"That's works for me," I agreed. "As long as you promise not to start crying once you lose."

Sonny smiled, tossing the football to my chest.

"Game on."

Six Mackenzie Falls actors against the five on So Random! With tensions running high, it was a tough game. Nico and Grady were tackled several times, although they got their revenge more than once. The one time Tawni was tossed the ball, she cowered as everyone ran forward to dog-pile on her. As Nico and Grady ran forward to protect the tween queen, she snuck the ball over to Zora, who ended up making a field goal. Sonny's backyard was huge and had more than enough running space to make everyone happy.

Sonny, of course, noticed the tight watch I kept on her. Instead of joining in and playing at my full ability, I stayed at her side most of the game, watching for any signs of her coughing to start up or her chest to tighten. Realizing what I was doing, she tried to prove she was fine. She ran around with everyone else, and as her cheeks turned rosy, it was because of the cold weather and her breathlessness from running, not coughing. To my relief, she really did seem to be ok.

Time seemed to fly by as the game went on. No one wanted to stop and Sonny wasn't going to make them. After all, it was a great way to keep everyone out of the kitchen. She and I were team captains and spent part of the game standing on the side-lines, shouting orders to our teams. "Pretend to be hurt!" Sonny would yell at the same time I would say, "Don't fall for any of their tricks; they're only comedians, they don't know how to act!" One time after I said something along the lines of that, Sonny gave me a slight push.

"Penalty against team Random!" I exclaimed, pointing both hands at her.

"That's not a penalty! We're not even playing right now, Chad!" she protested.

"Neither of us called a time-out," I argued. "We're in this game and that was a penalty, Munroe."

"I'll show you a penalty."

She ran off the side-line, easily catching the ball when Nico tossed it into her hands. As she started to run for the touch-down, no one on my team tried to stop her. They saw me take off a few seconds after she did, quickly closing the gap between us despite her head start.

Glancing over her shoulder, Sonny saw how close I was. She picked up her speed, but I still had some energy left in my legs as well.

"If you tackle me," she stated, her words coming out in pants from the running, "I'll have to tackle you back."

"No one tackles Chad Dylan Cooper," I stated the obvious, my own words sounding a lot more winded than I thought they would.

She smiled.

"Haven't we already figured out that I'm the exception to all of your rules?"

I didn't tackle her (my mom could've been spying on me from the house and she wouldn't be happy if she saw me tackle anyone, especially if it was a girl). Instead, right before Sonny would've crossed the line, making her score, I wrapped my arms around her waist. We were both going too fast to stop and we fell into one huge heap on the other side of the line.

"That still counts!" Sonny stated, not even bothering to climb to her feet as she tried to catch her breath.

"No, it doesn't," I protested, not moving from her side. "If you would've let me tackle you, you would've fallen before crossing the line."

"But you didn't tackle me. We're over the line, and the ball is still in my hands. It counts."

I pulled the football away from her grasp.

"Now it's in my hands. According to your logic, I just scored as well."

"That's cheating! The game wasn't even in motion when you did that!"

"You said all I had to do was be across the line with a football in my hands. I'm following your rules. If your score counts, so does mine!"

"Your score can't count because-,"

I never found out why my score couldn't count. Sonny's sentence was forced to stop when a loud shout echoed around us.

"ALLISON MUNROE!"

Her chocolate eyes turned to me.

"Please tell me you remembered to check the turkey today."

"What turkey?"

She groaned loudly before climbing to her feet, pulling me up behind her. While our casts exchanged confused glances behind our backs, we ran toward her house.

* * *

When Chad and I ran into the garage, it was too full of smoke to see anything. Mom walked out, a tray in her hands, nothing but black charcoal on it. She held it up to me, her eyes narrow.

"Would one of you like to explain why there's no turkey here?" she asked in what had to be the maddest voice I'd ever heard her use.

Chad opened his mouth to answer, but when I elbowed his rib he changed his mind. It wasn't the time to joke around. I knew from years of experience that there was only one way out of this mess: apologize and look as cute as possible while doing it.

"We're sorry, mommy," I said in the cutest voice I could muster.

"You're sorry? You're SORRY?" She sounded hysteric as she started laughing, not in a 'ha ha, that's funny' sort of way but more so 'you're lucky it's a holiday and I would feel guilty killing you' way. "How many people are we going to be able to feed just by saying sorry, Sonny?"

I wasn't sure what to say after that. I was in trouble and mom had every right to be mad at me. I'd been so engrossed in the football game, I'd completely forgotten about the turkey. It was all my fault and there was nothing I could do to make the turkey suddenly be alright again.

It was Chad who nervously made a suggestion.

"Uh, Mrs. Munroe? I know all the restaurants around here may be closed and the ones that are open probably would charge a fortune to cater anything," he started and mom and I both stared at him, wondering where he was going with this. "Since it is mainly my fault the turkey burned, I would be more than happy to pay to have some other food delivered straight to your house. Maybe…I don't know, meatball sandwiches or something like that?"

I gave mom a hopeful smile as she grew silent, thinking over Chad's words. Several tense seconds drug by before she finally gave her answer.

And in the strangest Thanksgiving ever thrown at my house, meatball sandwiches were served as the main dish instead of turkey. Not everyone could sit around the table and eat this year, so although the food stayed on the table, people took their plates and silverware into the living room where we all crammed together to enjoy the meal. It was quiet, peaceful, and the best food I'd ever tasted before. Everything was going perfectly until Lucy jumped to my side.

"Are you and Chad ready for the square-dancing?" she asked.

Chad spit out the sip of pop he'd just taken, luckily shooting it into the glass again rather than the floor. His eyes were big as he asked, "Are we ready for the what?"

I smiled nervously up at him, wondering if one of his Chad Dylan Cooper rules included never ever square-dancing. Judging by the shock on his face, my guess was he wouldn't want to be a partaker in the night's upcoming event.

* * *

Author's Note: Here goes the credit I promised!

Shmadders14: Thank you for giving me a lot of good suggestions! I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to use all of them. But I did steal the Monopoly one!

24QueenMo: Thank you for the football idea! I know I didn't use it EXACTLY the way you explained it. Still, you said football and that got my mind whirling with, 'well, what would happen if they did play football? What if it was the Falls vs. Randoms?'


	12. Chad, Do You Know Who Your Sunshine Is?

If you would like to hear the song playing at the end of this chapter, go to youtube and type in Do You Know You Are My Sunshine by the Statler Brothers. If you can't find it or would like to hear the edition I heard of it (it only lasts for a few seconds but has a more square dancing style to it) then let me know and I would be happy to send you the link.

Disclaimer: trust me, you'll be very happy by the end of this chapter that I own nothing!

* * *

Chad, Do You Know Who Your Sunshine Is?

I watched Chad's expression as he looked back and forth between Lucy and I. At first, he seemed surprised by our words, then amused, and when neither of us smiled to tell him we were joking around, horrified.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, looking like a sideways bobble-head as he turned from one of us to the other. "We're not really going to square dance…Are we?"

"Actually, square dancing is a tradition in my family," I started to explain, the excitement evident in my voice. "Every Thanksgiving, we head over to my neighbor's barn and spend most of the night listening to old country music and following the steps the Caller shouts out until our feet hurt too much to move! It's always a lot of fun!"

Chad still didn't look too sure about the words he was hearing. I was going to reach out my hand to comfort him, but Lucy grabbed my arms before I could, pulling me to my feet as she jumped up and down.

"Ohh, ohh, do you remember that one year when-,"

"Yeah! And then there was that other year that-,"

"I totally remember that! But what about the year you-,"

"That wasn't as bad as the year my cousins did-,"

"_That's_ the year I'll never be able to forget!"

Lucy and I started laughing about old memories, Chad stared at us like we were crazy (he had no chance of following our latest conversation), and then he tried to make his great escape.

"Well, as much…fun as all of that sounds, I'm afraid I can't make it," he said. "I'm sure the barn won't be able to hold all the people staying here this year, so I'll stay behind and keep the leftovers busy. Have some fun for me!"

With one final wave, he got to his feet and turned to leave the room. I grabbed his arm before he could get very far, pulling him back to my side. He threw his head back as though I was asking him to watch chick flicks with me all night instead of doing something as much fun as square dancing.

"Come on," I pleaded with him, batting my eyes in the cutest way I could. "The barn has all the stalls taken out of it because they don't keep animals in it anymore. It's plenty big enough for everyone staying here and then some! Please come with us?"

"Sonny," he said dryly, looking at my hair, my forehead, the floor beneath my feet. Anywhere really but the two eyes staring up at him. "You don't really think anyone from my cast is going to take part in this little activity, do you? They're all going to think it's stupid, childish, boring, embarrassing, a waste of time-,"

"Actually, I think it sounds like fun!"

I was thankful to hear Portlyn's words as she and Tawni joined in the conversation, jumping in with the small circle starting to form. Letting go of Chad, I went to join the two of them, putting an arm around each of their shoulders happily.

"Portlyn's a member of your cast and she plans on joining in," I tried to persuade my boyfriend. "Tawni's even going to give it a shot!"

My blonde cast mate let out an 'are you crazy?' laugh.

"I was planning on staying here tonight and - ow!" She rubbed her shoulder in the place I pinched it, glaring at me as she sighed. "Fine, I'll go to this little dancing thing. Are any cute guys going?"

"Well…uh…" I needed to say yes in order to keep Tawni's words positive, which was exactly what Chad needed to hear if he was going to be convinced to tag along as well. The problem was, I couldn't think of any cute boys who would be attending. All the Mackenzie Falls cast beside Portlyn were sure to turn down their invite, as would a few of my family members who wanted to stay in and sleep off the huge dinner. The only two guys I could think of were- "Nico and Grady will be there!"

Right on cue, the two boys waltzed over to the group (when I say waltz, I really mean it). They had their arms wrapped around each other and Grady was humming as the two of them twirled around, nearly running over Chad in the process. When Grady tried to dip Nico, they both must've lost their footing. One second they were on their feet, the next, they were lying in front of Tawni's.

"I don't think 'cute' is quite the right word for the two of them," Tawni informed me as she smiled sweetly down at our two male cast mates. "'Clumsy' or 'un-balanced' would be much better!"

"Hey!" Nico and Grady protested in unison.

Chad was still watching the scene unfolding before him, a dubious gaze about his eyes. I knew what he was going to say before he shook his head.

"I would rather quit Mackenzie Falls than take a chance of gettingseen acting like the two of them," he said, walking toward me long enough to kiss my forehead. "Like I said, have fun and let me know how it goes, ok?"

He turned his back on me again. If I was going to get him to change his mind, I was going to have to do something quick. Not knowing what else to try, I pulled Grady up from the floor, leaning into his side.

"That's fine with me, Chad," I called after his retreatingback. "I'll just spend my night dancing with all the other guys!"

"You mean whatever family members of yours show up and Nico and Grady?" Chad scoffed when he faced me again. "Yeah, I'm so jealous, I can barely stand it."

"You should be!" Grady took my hand, pushed me slightly away from him, and sent me spinning faster than I'd ever spun before. Just when I thought I was going to throw up, he stopped me, holding me in his arms. "Check out my sick moves!"

"Wow, Grady! You're a great dancer!" I could see Chad rolling his eyes. If he really didn't care if I danced with Grady or Nico, he would've left the room by that point. "Well, let's head over to the barn before we waste anymore time, shall we?"

Anyone who was done eating (which was pretty much everyone) and who felt like taking part in the old tradition followed along as I headed outside. It didn't surprise me at all when Chad appeared in the crowd.

"I thought you had no one to be jealous of?" I asked him, fake astonishment in my voice.

"I'm not jealous, and I don't plan on dancing, either," he replied. "I just want to see what the big deal is about your little square dancing tradition."

I knew he was lying, but I kept my mouth shut. Fighting with him would probably send him back into the house for the rest of the night. I would rather have him out by the action so there was a slight chance of getting him to join in the fun.

Just as I explained, the barn was huge and had more than enough room for all the people who followed me inside. Since the stalls had been cleared out years ago, they had time to be replaced by a small stage where a microphone was hooked up so the person shouting out the moves could be heard over whatever music was playing. Off to the side of the stage was a door and that was where I headed first.

"What's in there?" Chad asked, still following at my heels.

"Oh, you're going to love this!" I informed him before pulling open the door. "Square dancing costumes!"

Tawni and Chad both stepped aside, letting the excited Nico and Grady ("Do you think there are any griddles in here?") head into the room before them.

"Why are you two waiting out here?" I asked, gesturing for them to come on in. "All the good costumes are going to be gone if you don't hurry!"

"Sonny," Tawni started to say, a small chuckle behind her words. "I know we wear costumes on our show and everything but…" She stretched her arm in far enough to grasp one of the checkered garments. "But these are ten times as hideous!"

Tawni nearly jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. Taylor was behind her, a smile on his face.

"Come on, Tawni," he encouraged her, taking her hand as he tried to drag her into the room. "We might as well look awful together!"

"But…But…"

"You're participating this year, Taylor?" I cut through Tawni's protests. "But you haven't danced since you were six and-,"

"There's no reason to relive what happened twelve years ago," Taylor interrupted before nodding toward the star his hand was still connected to. "Besides, I have a reason to dance this year."

Now Chad stood alone outside the room, his back leaning against the doorframe. Sighing, I put back the costume I was clutching, instead walking over to join him.

"Portlyn's in there trying to find something to wear," I tried bribing him.

"Portlyn's planning on dancing."

"So are you."

"No, I'm not."

"Chad, what promise did you make to me for this week?"

He stared down at me, his puzzlement evident on his face.

"You told me we were going to have the week we first fell for each other all over again," I answered for him. "I believe today would've been called Take-Along Thursday. Do you remember what we did for Take-Along Thursday?"

"Well, I think I took you to some sort of party and then I had to do an interview-,"

"We danced," I summed up his long story. "You took me to a party and we danced. We've only been able to relive one of the days so far this week. Please give me this one, too."

Chad tried shaking his head. His mouth opened as he prepared to tell me he still didn't plan on taking part. In one last attempt, I grabbed his arm, pulling my body closer to his as I stuck out my bottom lip and made my eyes as big as I possibly could. My only hope was I looked as sad as I was trying to be.

My expression must've been at least a little depressed because Chad ended up sighing instead of saying the words he wanted to.

"Fine, I'll square dance with you," he gave in. "But do I really have to wear one of those stupid costumes as well?"

"Of course you do!" Lucy cried out, running up for the last part of the conversation. "Sonny, I'll take one arm if you take the other. That way, he won't be able to escape!"

As the barn started to fill up with country looking outfits and people tried to find partners to dance with, Lucy and I proudly led a very angry Chad out of the costume closet. Nico, who was standing close by, tapped Grady's shoulder when he caught sight of Chad. Both boys burst into laughing fits.

Even though Tawni wasn't standing right next to her cast mates, she must've heard their laughter because she turned in their direction. Once her eyes landed on Chad, she too started giggling, pulling out a cell phone which she pointed right at the Mackenzie Falls star, no doubt taking pictures of him.

Chad only stood there for a few seconds before turning around, trying to make his way back into the closet. It took all of my and Lucy's combined strength to hold him back.

"I hate you," he said, looking from one of us to the other. "I hate both of you!"

"I gave you fair warning that if you didn't start picking out a costume, all the good ones would get taken," I protested. "Don't blame us you got stuck wearing…that."

While most of the guys were wearing black or brown pants, Chad's black pair was covered in white spots, designed to be a cow pattern. His long sleeved white shirt had a black covering over his shoulders, and on top of his fold-over collar was a white tie with two huge eyes and a red tongue sticking out, as though it was picturing a cow's face. The black belt around his waist had a golden cow on the buckle. At least his shoes were plain black.

I tried to find something to wear myself that was as bad as what Chad was stuck with, but not one of the dresses were as full of cow print. My dress was white and simple, a purple v-shaped pattern near the top and a purple line around my waist before the fluffy bottom part started flaring. A few pieces of fabric on the lower half had a purple and white checkered design, but even that didn't look as ridicules as Chad's cow pants.

Chad was still trying to leave when dad walked onto the stage, taking his spot behind the microphone. Not much of a dancer but having a booming voice, he was always the Caller, his voice easily able to shout out the moves over the sound of the music. Just like every other year, he was all smiles as he took his usual place.

"This dance is about to take off!" his voice echoed around the barn. "Guys, get out there and find your gal before it's too late."

Lucy stepped aside, handing Chad over to me. I put one hand on each of his shoulders, giving him my happiest smile.

"It doesn't matter what you look like, Chad," I told him. "You're going to be with me for the rest of the night and I don't care how you look. As long as I get to spend the night with you, I'm happy."

"I would be a lot happier in my normal clothes," Chad replied. When I glared up at him, he sighed. "I guess if anyone had to force me to wear an outfit like this, I'm glad it's you."

Just as he began to put his arms around my waist-

"Sonny, your dad wants you on stage!" mom exclaimed, pulling me away from Chad.

When I sent a hopeless glance over my shoulder, Chad wasn't even looking at me to see it. Already Lucy was beside him, taking my place only too easily. There was nothing I could do about it as mom dragged me away.

* * *

Sonny never told me about her guitar playing skills. Sure, Mrs. Munroe had mentioned it a few times when telling me old stories and I'd seen the guitar's case in Sonny's bedroom back in Hollywood, but neither sign had prepared me for the awesome sound emitting from my girlfriend's fingers. She played each and every song flawlessly as her dad stood next to her, shouting out the moves he wanted to see performed.

Lucy had to remind me several times that my feet were supposed to be moving, not standing still. Every time my eyes went toward the stage, which they were doing without me telling them to, they wouldn't let me look away. I couldn't stop watching Sonny as she sat on the edge, one leg dangling toward the floor as the other sat beneath her. Most of the time her eyes stayed on her fingers, but even when she looked away, she never missed a note. Sometimes she would look up at her dad and they would share a moment, probably thinking back to all the years they'd done this before and how good it felt to be working together again. Sometimes though it was my eyes she would search out in the crowd. If she caught me staring back at her, she would smile that too nice smile of hers, blushing before turning back to her fingers.

During the times our eyes did meet, which never seemed to happen enough no matter how many times it took place during a song, I felt something pass through my body. I was happy to see her up there, having family time and fun wailing away on her instrument, but happiness wasn't the cause of the new feeling. I was excited she took the time to pay attention to me despite her busyness, but that wasn't it, either. When she looked at me, those brown eyes glittering in the darkness of the barn and her hair becoming messy under the hat she was wearing yet somehow still looking perfect, her dancing outfit making her features stand out even more than what I was used to…

I was falling deeper into the trap Sonny already had me stuck in. She could get me to do anything she wanted me to do (for example, square dancing while wearing the most horrible costume imaginable) without barely needing to say a word. All she had to do was smile and I wanted to return it, even if I was having the worst day ever. Even as she sat on the stage, only several feet away from where I was standing, the distance felt too far. More than anything, I wanted to join her, holding her in my arms as she continued playing on her guitar, whispering in her ear how much she meant to me.

The last thing I wanted to do was swing her best friend around the dance floor.

"Hey!" Lucy grabbed onto my arm when I started to walk away. "Where do you think you're going? You can't leave right in the middle of a song!"

"I'm sorry, Lucy," I apologized, pulling my arm from her grasp. "I just - I can't stand it any more. I need to be with Sonny right now."

I didn't get far before I felt Lucy grab me again. This time, I glared when I turned to face her.

"You can't really be saying you're still in love with her," she said, giving me a dubious look. "After meeting her crazy family and being forced into something as stupid as square dancing, you still want to be with her?"

I was confused as I answered. Did she want me to say 'yes, you're right, her family is much too weird. I should go dump her right now'? To be honest, I didn't really care what her family was like. Sonny was a part of it and therefore, I could deal with putting up with them if I had to. Besides, they weren't that bad once you got past the whole country dancing theme they had.

"Of course I still want to be with her," I told Lucy. "After all…She is my Sonny."

"How can you still want her?" Was it just me, or did Lucy sound…angry? "You don't have to deal with her, Chad. You could be with someone who has a normal family, a girl who would be there for you all the time instead of always picking fights!"

We stood there in silence as I stared down at Lucy. All I wanted to do was get away and join Sonny on stage, but something was holding me back. Lucy wasn't holding my arm anymore so it wasn't a physical restraint. For some reason, I couldn't get up the strength to walk away from her.

"Lucy…I don't know what you're saying…"

She threw her hands up in exaggeration. "I'm trying to tell you that you should leave Sonny and get together with me!"

Without giving me a chance to say anything, Lucy grabbed both my shoulders, pulling me down until my face was too close to hers. One second, she was kissing me-

And the next, four arms were dragging me out of the barn.

* * *

Nico and Grady were dancing together (they had both failed in trying to ask Sonny's cousins to dance with them), having too much fun to notice the stares other dancers gave them. It was Nico who pulled his feet to a stop, almost getting run over when Grady didn't notice he'd stopped and pranced into his body.

"Hey! Watch it!" Nico warned his best friend.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Grady apologized. "You should really give a guy some warning before stopping next time!"

"My bad," the taller of the two boys said before nodding forward. "I only stopped because I just saw Chad Dylan Pooper doing something I don't think he should be doing."

"Oh, come on, Nico," the other boy sighed. "I know you don't like the fact that Sonny and Chad are dating, but can't you learn to adjust? Otherwise our two casts are always going to fight and Chad will always hate us and we'll never get a new car as a birthday present from him!"

"Maybe I would learn to adjust if Chad was with Sonny right now. Check out who he's dancing with!"

Grady quickly looked around, his head going from side to side, up and down, as he tried to spot the jerk-throb. It was with a sigh that Nico took his best friends' head, pointing it in the right direction. He knew Grady was looking at the right thing when he heard the heavier boy gasp.

"That girl isn't Sonny!" he said in shock.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Nico agreed, rolling up his sleeve as he started to walk toward Chad and Lucy. "Just wait until I get my hands on that cheating little-,"

It was Grady who held back his best friend, his mouth falling open as his finger pointed straight ahead. He didn't have to say the event that left him wordless; Nico could see it just as well as Grady.

Chad and Lucy were kissing.

"We've got to go tell Sonny!" Grady cried out, heading toward the stage.

"Hold up, man!" Nico said, now holding his best friend back instead of the other way around. "If we tell Sonny something like that, she'll be devastated. Besides, it looks like the girls are taking care of it."

Sure enough, already Chad and Lucy were apart, Tawni and Portlyn leading the Mackenzie Falls actor from the barn. Grady let out a nervous laugh.

"So, we're agreed we'll let the girls handle things and pretend we saw nothing?" he asked.

"Agreed," Nico confirmed.

Too bad neither boy noticed Bryson standing within earshot of them, a grin overcoming his face.

* * *

Portlyn wouldn't stop slapping my shoulder. I had no idea why she was doing it, but she was a lot stronger than she looked. Either that or my shoulder was just starting to hurt from her striking it in the same spot too many times.

"Will you stop that?" I demanded, finally putting my hands up to push away hers. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" she repeated. "What's wrong with me? I think the better question is what's wrong with you! You are smart enough to realize that girl in there you just had your lips all over wasn't Sonny, right?"

The sun was already down and it was too dark to see Portlyn's face, but I could tell how mad she was without seeing her expression.

"We didn't get you and Sonny together so you could cheat on her!" Tawni's voice added in.

"What do you care? I thought you didn't even like Sonny," I asked.

"Well, I don't. I just always thoughtif you cheated on her with someone, it would be me, not some other girl from Wisconsin."

"It doesn't matter who he cheated with!" Portlyn exclaimed. "The point is, after Sonny finds out what you just did in there with her best friend, she's going to kill you, you're going to break up, and Mackenzie Falls and So Random! will never break down the barrier between them!"

"Yes, because as earlier today pointed out, you're all doing such a great job getting along," I said in a mocking tone. When two slaps hit me at the same time, I went on. "Look, in case you didn't notice, Lucy was the one who kissed me, not the other way around. If you let me go back in, I'll explain to her we can't be anything more than friends and Sonny will never know what happened."

A shocked silence answered my comment.

"You're not even going to tell Sonny anything about the kiss?" Portlyn finally spoke. "You know she'll just get even more mad if she ever does find out and knows you've been hiding it from her. What if Tawni or I accidentally let it slip and-,"

"Then I guess you'll both have to learn how to keep your mouths shut, won't you?"

Leaving the two girls, I went back into the barn. To my surprise, Sonny wasn't on the stage any longer, recorded music playing behind her dad instead. Hoping maybe she was free to dance, I scanned the floor-

And found her dancing with none other than my older brother.

* * *

My fingers hurt from playing the guitar for so many hours, my eyes felt ready to droop from boredom, and I had lost sight of Chad. It was time to give the music a rest and head to the dance floor.

Stiff from sitting down for so long, my legs didn't feel like moving when I first stood from the stage. I walked slowly around the room, giving them a chance to un-cramp as my eyes roamed around for the blonde I wanted to spend the rest of the night with. A different pair of arms twirled me around.

Tensing up, I wasn't happy when I realized who was offering me a dance. Bryson Cooper, the older brother of Chad Dylan Cooper, the boy who had tried to take advantage of me on my first Twizzle Tuesday. Was he really going to try his luck again? Hadn't I made myself perfectly clear the first time?

"May I have this dance?" he asked me, lightly taking my hand.

"Sorry, but I already promised it to someone else."

"If that someone else is my little brother, you might want to rethink that decision," Bryson said when I turned my back to him. "I think he's a tad bit busy kissing - I mean, talking, to Lucy."

Despite my desire to get as far away from Bryson as quickly as possible, I felt my feet stop. Slowly, I turned to face him again, his words repeating over and over again in my head.

"Chad wouldn't kiss Lucy," I finally found the words I was looking for. "They're both…They're just friends."

"Are they, Sonny, or is that just what they want you to think?"

He took my shoulders, turning me around and pointing with his finger in the direction he wanted me to look. It was easy for me to spot Chad (it was always easy for me to find him in a crowd). To my despair, he was with Lucy.

As I'd sat on the stage, I'd taken more than my fair share of glances at Chad. Each time, he was still dancing with the same partner. No matter how many different moves dad called out, somehow the two of them managed to stick together. Every song I made sure to find him, just to see if he'd switched with someone during the short intermission, but he never did. He was always side by side with Lucy. When he caught me staring at him, he would smile back at me. At first, I thought he was doing it to be nice, but now thatI continued to watch my two friends, I wasn't so sure. Maybe he was only smiling because of how happy Lucy was making him. Was his smile supposed to be a message to me that he wanted me to feel like he needed me when really he was doing just fine?

"This song goes out to my daughter," dad's voice said as there was a pause in the music. "I love you and I want you to know that you'll always be my Sonshine."

The country song I knew from too many years of hearing it started playing through the room. I barely listened as I made my way toward Chad and Lucy. Neither of them saw me advancing, too busy getting into the natural swing of the song.

_She was standing in the crowd_

_All alone and lookin' pretty_

_Listening to the music that we played_

Chad and Lucy were smiling too widely as they followed the moves dad said into his microphone. My heart broke as I watched Chad laugh along with her. I couldn't remember the last time he'd looked so happy.

_She walked up and whispered_

_I leaned down and listened_

_To the request that_ _she made_

Just as the song said, Lucy pretended to whisper in Chad's ear. He smiled as he leaned down, trying to hear her words. As she laughed harder, he did too, holding her as he dipped her close to the ground.

'I hope he drops her,' I thought before getting a handle on my brain and blushing at my own meanness.

"_Do you know, 'You Are My Sunshine"?_

_She asked so sweet and tenderly_

"_Do you know, 'You Are My Sunshine'_

_And would you play it one more time for me"_

"Swing your girl and promenade, everyone!" dad called out.

Chad swung Lucy away from him, making the mistake of actually letting go of her hand. Before she could come back to his side, I joined him, taking his hands as we started walking together, completing the promenade.

"Sonny!" Chad sounded surprised to see me. "When did you stop playing your guitar?"

"My playing was so bad you stopped paying attention to when there was just me compared to a whole band?" I asked.

"No," he replied, although he didn't give me a better reason for not realizing I had left the stage. "Actually, I thought you were amazing up there tonight. But I am glad to have you back. I would pick you to dance with over Lucy anytime."

I didn't get a chance to respond as the song played on.

_Border to border_

_And ocean to ocean_

_I still look for her every place_

_Chasing the sunshine_

_Each and every night I'm searching_

_Every crowd for her face_

What if Chad was lying to me? Obviously he was a good actor (maybe not as great as he thought he was, but still), so it would be easy for him to tell me I was the one he wanted to dance with instead of Lucy. And he knew I would believe him. What reason did I have not to? He'd never done anything before to prove himself untrustworthy.

I knew I should believe him about Lucy. I knew I should drop the topic and leave it alone, enjoying my time with him while it lasted. Still, I couldn't get the image out of my head of him and Lucy dancing together just now, the smiles on their faces as they did. What if Chad was looking for his sunshine, too, just like the guy singing the song? When he turned his head to glance around the room, was he searching for Lucy's eyes?

My sickness had been doing better. I'd been able to play football for hours without it bothering me and, for the majority of the afternoon, I thought I was feeling fine and was over whatever sickness I'd had a touch of. There was no reason to push Chad away any more.

Was I too late? Had I already pushed him and Lucy too close together? If they had kissed like Bryson said, why weren't they telling me? Did they want to have some sort of secret romance?

If my last question was true, who was I to get in their way?

_She was gone just as quick_

_As the song that she asked for_

_Taking my sunshine away_

Lucy was gone. When I cut into the dance and joined Chad, we had left Lucy by herself somewhere in the room. Were his eyes scanning, trying to find hers? Was I taking away his real sunshine, trying to take her place in his heart?

They say love can happen fast. Chad and Lucy showed no signs of liking each other when they met in Hollywood, but then again, it took him forever to admit he liked me. Maybe I had given him the courage he needed to be more open with his heart. He felt like after telling his enemy he was in love with her, he could say it to someone he really meant it with when the time came along. After spending a week with Lucy, had he found the right person to use the line on?

"You're being quiet," Chad stated the obvious. "That never happens. What's up with you?"

"It's nothing," I lied. "Well…Maybe it's nothing. Then again, it might be something. I don't really know. You're the only person who can answer for me, I guess. But that would involve telling you which I really don't want to do because I know you're just going to get mad-,"

"Sonny, just come out and say it," Chad cut me off.

"I still think there's something going on between you and Lucy."

_But someday when I finally_

_Look down and see her_

_I know just what I'm going to say_

Chad was silent for several long moments.

"Look, if this is just because I've been dancing with her all night-,"

"It's not because of that," I interrupted. "Well, not just because of that, anyway. You guys seem really happy whenever you're together, and I don't want you not to be together only because of me. I mean, when I first found out you guys kissed-,"

"How did you find out about that?"

"So it's true then? You guys really…"

I couldn't say the word again, my throat closing up on me. It took every ounce of strength I had to step away from Chad.

"I won't stand in your way anymore," I said softly. "I'll leave you two alone."

Even though we weren't standing anywhere close to a wall, Chad found his way to the nearest one, forcing his fist into it.

"I've tried telling you Lucy means nothing to me, but I'm sick of fighting with you about it," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe you were right a year ago when you tried to say no when I asked you out. Maybe we really weren't made to last."

I could feel the tears springing to my eyes, but I fought against them, holding them inside.

"Are you saying we're - we're…" Again, I was unable to finish my thought.

"I'm saying we both need a break," Chad replied, turning his back to me as he walked away. "If you have an attitude adjustment when you come back to Hollywood, give me a call."

"Chad!" I was shouting across the room, gaining the attention of everyone standing nearby. "What about reliving our week?"

It was a slow turn Chad had as he let his eyes land on mine.

"You wanted a reincarnation of Take-Along Thursday. You danced with Hayden that night, we fought. I danced with Lucy, and we're fightingagain," he said. "Do you want to know what our new Friday is called?"

Of course I didn't want to know. My knees were shaking beneath me, threatening to give way. Suddenly the cough was coming again and my chest began to hurt, this time worse than when I collapsed in the middle of the street. Not noticing any of that, Chad spat out his answer.

"Finally, I Get to Leave You and Your Craziness Behind and Go Home Friday!"

As Chad turned his back to me, the last few notes of the song played on, not knowing the heartbreak going on underneath it. The words hit me harder than they ever had before:

_Do you know, you are my sunshine_

_Do you know what your smile did to me_

_Do you know, you are my sunshine_

_And it looks like you're always going to be_

In my mind, only one word was changed. 'Always' was replaced with 'never'.


	13. The Rules of Being a Cooper

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Bryson Cooper doesn't know much about girls.

Disclaimer: I own Bryson Cooper. Nothing else though

* * *

The Rules of Being A Cooper And Getting Girls According to Bryson

My fingers wouldn't leave the redial button.

Sitting in the spot across from me Sonny had occupied less than a week ago, Bryson had his head resting on the window behind him, his legs stretching across the bench we shared, only turning toward the floor millimeters from my lap. For some reason, there was a smile plastered to his face.

"Put down the phone, Chad," he ordered me.

"Don't tell me what to do," I snarled back, my voice sounding like that of a little child. Just to prove I wasn't listening to him, I hit redial for what had to be the hundredth time since the plane had left the Munroe's backyard.

It wasn't my decision to let my older brother ride all the way to Hollywood in my private airplane with me, but I made the mistake of going into Sonny's house last night after storming from the barn. I'd only wanted to grab my belongings, but I hadn't moved fast enough. Mom and dad saw what I was doing and stopped me before I had a chance to leave.

"I know you have the small plane with you instead of the huge one, honey, but would you mind taking Bryson home with you?" mom had asked. "That Mackenzie Falls bus was so crowded on the way here. I know you'll only be getting rid of one person, but every little bit helps."

Mom made it sound like a question ('would you mind taking Bryson home with you?' were her exact words), but I could tell by studying dad's face behind her that I really wasn't being given an option. He was coming with me whether I wanted him to or not.

And may I just say one thing? There is no person on the face of this green planet as horrible to go on any sort of trip with than it is to go with Bryson.

Simply because he's 1. Bigger than me and 2. Older than me, Bryson thinks he can tell me to do anything he wants and I'll have to listen. I was proving him wrong now as I sat in my chair, keeping my cell phone glued to my eardrum. I was going to call Sonny if I wanted to call Sonny.

And sometime, she would have to answer me.

So far, every time I hit the redial button, the same thing seemed to happen. The phone would ring and ring and ring until eventually Sonny's sweet voice would come on and ask me to please leave a message. My first few times, I followed her request.

"Sonny, please answer your phone. It's me, Chad Dylan Cooper. But you probably knew that since your cell has caller ID. Which I guess should let me know to stop calling you. Please call me back. I really want to talk to you," I said once, trying several more times before leaving another. "Look, I know you're really, really mad at me, but can't we talk about it? I'm sorry for what I did and if you would talk to me, I'd tell you how it was all my fault and the many, many things I would do to make it up to you. Just…Please pick up your phone."

No matter what words I said, nothing seemed to work. She wouldn't answer me if I called, and when I tried texting her, no reply came back. Oh, she was angry at me, alright, and she had every right to be. Couldn't she at least give me a chance to try and explain myself?

Not that I would give her a choice once she was back in Hollywood. Condor Studios wanted all the actors back by Sunday; already it was early Friday morning. Sonny would have to follow my lead sooner or later and come back to the So Random! stage. I didn't need a cell phone to talk to her once she was there. All I had to do was walk over to her set and talk to her face-to-face. There was no ignore button she could hit then.

But for now, I was stuck. If she wasn't answering her phone or texts, then I had no way of communicating with her. The only thing I could think of doing was hitting redial over and over in hopes she'd change her mind.

Rolling his eyes, Bryson lifted his feet from the ground, putting them on my lap instead. They weren't light like Sonny's had been; actually they felt as though they had the power to crush me beneath them. It took both my hands in order to push them away. I should've seen through his plan from the start, but I was too busy trying to push him away to stop him from reaching over and taking the phone from my busy hands. He smiled happily at his victory.

"Bryson." I spoke his name slowly and clearly, trying to sound as businesslike as possible. "Give me back my phone."

"Why should I? So you can keep calling that little girlfriend of yours and sounding like an idiot?" He shook his head back and forth. "You should be thanking me for this, little brother. I'm saving you from a lot of humiliation."

Unfastening my seatbelt, I pounced on my brother, trying to take the phone from him. He knew what I was going to do before I had a chance to spring though and easily overtook me. Putting me into a head-lock, he ruffled my hair, the phone suddenly gone from his hands.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, holding up a finger despite the position he had me in, knowing fully well I had no real power. "No one messes with Chad Dylan Cooper's hair!"

"I'll promise to stop if you promise to stop trying to get your phone back," Bryson tried to compromise.

"Tell me where you put the phone first."

"No way! That'll just make the temptation to steal it stronger!"

"You think I actually like being this close to you? You smell like arm-pit," I protested, trying with no avail to free my face. "I'm not going to try taking it again. I just want to make sure my baby's in a safe place."

Bryson finally let me go, waiting for me to fasten my seatbelt again before answering my question.

"Your phone is safe and sound in my pocket," he explained, his head shaking back and forth like he was talking to some sort of crazy person. "I don't see why you feel like you need it though, Chad. Sonny knows you're calling her. If she wanted to talk, she would pick up. You're just giving in to everything she wants."

I gave him a blank stare.

"What are you talking about, I'm giving in to everything she wants? All I'm doing is calling her and, more than likely, bugging her to death."

"You're kidding, right?" When I didn't nod my head or say anything to prove his words true, Bryson went on. "Half the time when a girl is angry at you, she's only pretending so she can get your attention. You're giving her exactly that by calling every ten seconds. Why would she pick up the phone and talk to you if she knows you're just going to try again?"

"Uh, maybe so we could talk and work this whole thing out?"

"Girls don't like to work things out. They like getting called over and over again, getting sweet text messages, receiving tons of 'Please Forgive Me' presents, and making you work for the forgiveness they know they'll give you in the end the entire time they're making you work. Sonny wants you to suffer and you're falling for her trap."

There were several silent moments as Bryson and I stared at each other. He was in college and I wasn't too much younger than him, but never before had he given me advice about girls. I had no idea if I was supposed to believe what he was saying or not. It was very possible he was telling me lies so he could sound like the know-it-all he thought he was.

On the other hand, did it really matter if he was right or not? Who cared if Sonny was trying to make me work? She deserved to make me suffer after what I'd done to her. It was only fair I gave her the chance.

"I'm more than happy to keep calling her, sending her sweet texts, and sending her tons of presents," I said, holding my palm out flat, hoping maybe Bryson would hand over my phone. "I love her and I want this fight to be over."

Instead of handing over the phone, Bryson leaned over as far as he could, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Oh, Chad," he sighed, laughing as I forced him back to his side of the bench. "You have a lot to learn about the female species. I think it's time for your first crash-course in girls."

"Who's in charge of the crash-course?" I asked in a fake sweet tone. "It can't be you, Mr. I've-never-had-a-steady-girlfriend-even-once-in-my-entire-life!"

"You honestly think I've never had a girlfriend because no girl has wanted me?" Bryson asked, chuckling as he motioned toward his body. "Excuse me, but I don't know of one girl who wouldn't want a piece of this!"

He winked at me in what I hoped wasn't supposed to be a seductive manner.

"First of all, ew," I stated, holding one finger into the air as I grimaced. "Secondly, could you hurry this thing up? I still have a girlfriend to call."

"Am I speaking another language here or something? You're not going to call Sonny again, Chad. You've called her enough, she knows you want to talk. She'll call you when she's finally ready to have a conversation."

"And what am I supposed to do until then? Sit here and enjoy my flight with you?"

"Well, I did hear these things usually have in-flight movies."

Shaking my head this time, I reached into my own pocket. Bryson must've forgotten I had more than one cell phone because he glared as I pulled out a new one.

"Don't worry, I'm not calling Sonny," I informed him.

"Aren't you a little double-agent!" I had no idea why Bryson sounded so proud of me. "You're going to call that cute little thing you had your lips all over on the dance floor, aren't you? Right under your girlfriend's nose, too. I guess you do have some style left, bro."

"I'm not calling Lucy either," I sighed. "Why would I call someone I never want to speak to again?"

I didn't lie to Bryson. The speed dial I hit on my phone wasn't the one that would ring in on Sonny's phone. It was Portlyn's number instead and I hoped she wasn't as mad at me as Sonny was. I held my breath as I heard ringing, wondering if anyone would answer this time.

"Hello?"

"Portlyn! Thank goodness you picked up! Look, I need you to give the phone to Sonny. Lie to her, tell her it's not me. Do anything you have to in order for her to talk. All I need is thirty seconds to explain what happened-,"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Bryson throw his hands into the air, losing all hope in me. I didn't care what he thought about my plan. If tricking Sonny was the only way to get her talking again, then I was willing to trick her.

"Even if I wanted to give Sonny the phone, I couldn't," Portlyn cut through my voice, using the tone she only used when she was mad. "She's gone."

I could feel my whole body freeze up. "She's what?"

"Sorry, I don't mean she's gone gone," Portlyn said, realizing her mistake. "As far as I know, she's still safe and sound in Wisconsin. Last time I saw her, she was still in the barn, sitting on the stage with Princess in her lap, looking like she'd lost her best friend."

"What do you mean last time you saw her? Where are you, Port? Aren't you still with her?"

"Actually, I'm not. Your cast decided since you were gone, there was no point in staying in Wisconsin any longer. They set a half hour limit and said whoever wasn't on the bus by then was getting left behind. I barely had any time to console Sonny thanks to them."

"Why are you talking like that, calling them my cast? They're your cast too…Aren't they?"

Was she mad enough at me to quit Mackenzie Falls? It didn't make sense if she was feeling that much anger. She wasn't even the one my offense had been against. If anyone wanted to stop showing up the studio and having to see my face every day, it should've been Sonny.

"Of course they're my cast, too. I just don't want to be associated with anything having to do with you right now," Portlyn replied. "As a matter of fact, why did I even answer my phone?"

"What? You're not going to hang up on me, are you? I have no one here to talk to but Bryson. If you hang up this phone, Portlyn, I'm going to-,"

A dial tone sounded in my ear before the threat could leave my mouth. Bryson had a dubious expression on his face as I slid my phone back into my pocket.

"Let me guess," he started saying. "You just got off the phone with Portlyn, the girl who's been your best friend since Mackenzie Falls first started, and she's mad at you, too."

"If it's supposed to amaze me that you knew that, it doesn't. It's not that hard to listen in on someone's phone call when they're sitting right next to you."

"Look, if you want my advice about Portlyn and Sonny, which I'm sure you do, ignore them for awhile. They'll come around when they've had enough of the silent treatment. That game is only fun when the other person is trying to talk, and if you're not trying, then you've won. Just make sure that when they do finally talk to you, you apologize over and over again. Otherwise, you're never going to get forgiven."

"I never asked for your advice before, and I don't want it now. Thanks anyway."

I turned my attention to the window, not knowing what else to do. Talking to Bryson was annoying, trying to call Portlyn back would be pointless, and I had no idea if calling Sonny again would be a good idea or if waiting would be better. Bryson had me twisted around so much, I didn't know what would end the fight sooner.

The silence in the plane only lasted for a few moments before Bryson decided to break it. He didn't know how to keep that huge mouth of his shut.

"I honestly don't see why you're so mad, Chad. The way I see it, I did a huge favor telling your girlfriend about the kiss for you."

Just like that, he had my attention again, one trembling finger pointing straight at his chest.

"You're the one who told Sonny? How - How did you find out about it?"

"You weren't exactly being very secretive about it," Bryson informed me, once again laughing. "I saw the kiss happening and…may I just say one thing about it? You have a LOT of work to do in that area, little brother."

"You're lying; you didn't really see the kiss."

"How would you know?"

"Because no one makes fun of Chad Dylan Cooper's kissing style after seeing it in action."

"Fine, have it your way," Bryson gave in, shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't see your kiss. I still think you're making too big of a deal out of it though. You and I both know that you enjoyed it."

I felt my lips trying to form words, any words that would prove Bryson wrong. 'Yeah, right!' or 'What are you talking about? I didn't enjoy that kiss!' For some reason, the words never left my mouth. All I managed to do was scoff, which made Bryson's smile grow even wider.

"I'm right, aren't I?" he asked happily. "You really did like kissing Lucy!"

A scoff left my lips again.

"Of course I didn't like kissing her," I managed to say along with the noise this time. "She's just a farm girl from Wisconsin who I am - I mean, was - good friends with."

"Sonny's just a farm girl from Wisconsin, too, who you used to be good friends with," Bryson countered. "If she could turn into something else, why can't Lucy? Besides, if you didn't enjoy kissing her, why did you dance with her again afterwards?"

That wasn't a bad question. Why had I danced with Lucy again after she kissed me? As Bryson sat there, waiting for my answer to his question, I tried to remember exactly what had happened last night:

_The first place my eyes went after walking back into the barn, leaving a stunned Portlyn and Tawni waiting outside, was the stage where Sonny was last seen playing her guitar. To my surprise, she was no longer sitting on it, but it didn't take me long to find her. There she was, several feet away from me, standing beside Bryson._

_Not wanting to leave Sonny alone to suffer with my older brother like I'd done last time they were together, I was getting ready to cross the room so I could steal her away and call her mine for the rest of the night. With any luck, I could be super nice to her and that way, she wouldn't be as angry if someone did accidentally let news of the kiss slip to her._

_Before I could make it all the way to Sonny's side, another body jumped into my path, stopping me from walking any farther. Two huge eyes stared up at me as a pair of hands reached up to my shoulders._

"_Chad!" the owner of the voice, none other than Lucy, exclaimed. "I am so sorry about what happened! If you can ever forgive me, I would love to put it behind us so we can stay friends. After all, you're still going to be here a few more days and I would hate not being able to talk to you."_

_She knew something was wrong when I reached up and gently took her hands, placing them back at her sides. _

"_Lucy." After everything that had happened, saying her name felt weird to me, like it was never supposed to roll off my tongue so easily. "I think it would be better for both of us if we stop being friends."_

_It was impossible not to see the tears that flew to Lucy's eyes, even though she turned her face away quickly, nodding her head like it was no big deal._

"_I completely understand. You don't have to worry about me any more, Chad. I'll leave you alone."_

_She started to walk away and I knew the right thing to do was let her go. I needed to be with Sonny, saving her from whatever torture she was going through because of my brother. I needed to make up the kiss to her, even though I hoped she would never hear about it. Calling out to Lucy again would be putting her before my girlfriend, giving her hope that maybe I was going back on my words, that maybe we could still be friends._

_I couldn't be friends with her. She was crushing on me (apparently a lot more than I thought) and even if I pushed her away all the time, I would feel guilty every time I looked at her, knowing what her real feelings were. No, the right thing to do, the only thing to do, was walk away._

_Lucy was already several feet away from me when I tried to walk toward Sonny. For some reason, my feet wouldn't move. All I could think about was the look in Lucy's eyes as I told her we couldn't be friends, the tears she tried unsuccessfully to hide. I couldn't leave things like that between us._

"_Lucy…Wait."_

_She turned to face me, the tears already flowing down her cheeks. I sighed as I walked toward her, gently brushing away a few drops from the corners of her eyes._

"_How about if we share one last dance together?" I suggested. "It can be our way of saying goodbye."_

"_Are you sure?" she asked, staring up at me, afraid I was going to go back on my words. "You don't have to dance with me, Chad. I'm a big girl. I know what goodbye means."_

_Without waiting for an answer, she turned to leave. Only when she felt me tug on her hand did she face me again._

"_I know I don't have to dance with you," I said, letting my eyes meet hers. "It's something I want to do."_

_Despite the tears still streaking her face, Lucy smiled as she took a small step closer to me. I returned her happy expression, feeling glad, elated even, that she had accepted my offer. We could share one last dance before saying goodbye. What Sonny didn't know wouldn't hurt her._

_Something changed in me during the song. For some reason, I wanted to make Lucy laugh. Maybe I hated seeing the tears on her cheeks, or maybe I was growing used to her company and wanted to make the most of my last moment with her. I showed off with my dancing, knowing I was doing a good job when her smile grew. She started acting out the song, standing on her tiptoes during one part so she could pull my ear closer to her lips. I could feel my body tingling at our too close faces-_

_And that was when Sonny appeared in my arms instead. _

"Have you reached your conclusion yet?" Bryson asked as I reached the end of my flashback, clapping my shoulder roughly. "You know, the conclusion where you admit I'm right, you did dance with Lucy because you enjoyed the kiss and was looking for more?"

"I didn't enjoy the kiss," I said, sticking to my original story. "I'm in love with Sonny and only Sonny."

"You can say that as many times as you want to. It might be true - it might not be true. You're young and there's still plenty of time to decide who you want to spend the rest of your life with," Bryson explained. "Whether you're in love or not, you're still a guy. Guys get bored of being with the same girl day after day after day. I mean, let's face it: you're Chad Dylan Cooper! You're used to having girls all over you all the time. How many girls have been after you since word of Sonny and you got out?"

"I've had girls begging to be with me."

"Not as many as you had when Mackenzie Falls first started. Let's face it. You still have your loyal fans, but a lot of them have moved on now that they found out you're in a relationship. You miss all the attention and getting it from Lucy was more than a little enjoyable to you."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, Bryson was right. My fan base had died down since Sonny and I started going out. Sure, most girls still nearly fainted as they waited in line for hours and hours and get my autograph or a picture taken, but unlike my earlier days, they no longer slipped their numbers into my pocket. My fan letters didn't come with marriage invites, instead best wishes for Sonny and me. Even running from a horde of fan girls didn't result in stray underwear any more (which only happened one time that I could recall anyway). Of course my fans were still in love with me, but it was a different sort of love than the one I was used to.

Could Bryson be right? Was I only talking to Lucy so much, and feeling the need to make her laugh instead of cry, and not yelling at her after kissing me, because she reminded me of my old fans? Did I keep hanging out with her and making Sonny jealous because she was taking the spot of all the other girls?

There was still one huge question left if that was my reason behind becoming good friends with Lucy: Why did Sonny only become jealous of her and not all the other fans? Why could I go skating with Lucy and have a good time, and race her home and catch her in my arms? How could I hold her tightly to keep her warm? What did I really think about her kiss if I felt the need to dance with her less than ten minutes after it had taken place?

Just as Lucy had done with me, was I developing a crush on her as well?

I felt my heart skip a beat when the theme song to So Random! started playing through the plane. It was muffled at first, but I lunged toward Bryson, reaching into his pocket before he could protest or slap away my hands.

"That's Sonny's ring tone!" I exclaimed. "I can't believe she's finally calling me back! I knew she would, or at least I hoped she would, and now-,"

"You're going to miss the call if you keep talking, you know," Bryson informed me.

Without another word, I put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" My voice sounded like a child on Christmas morning, finding a tree full of brightly wrapped packages underneath.

"Chad? Is that you?"

"Lucy?" I could literally feel my heart dropping when I realized the voice didn't belong to my girlfriend. "I know we didn't get to finish our goodbye dance, but that's no excuse for you to be calling me from Sonny's phone. I told you last night, we can't be friends with each other."

"I'm not calling because I want to talk to you; there's something Sonny would want you to know that she's incapable of telling you right now."

It was the first time I noticed what sounded like tears in Lucy's voice. Slowly, her words started to sink in. She wasn't calling to talk to me…Sonny had something to tell me…She was incapable of saying it…

Feeling like someone had just kicked me in the stomach as hard as they could, I could barely manage to choke out my next questions.

"Lucy…What's going on? Where are you right now? Why can't Sonny use her own phone?"

"Everyone's at the hospital. Sonny is…I'm so sorry, Chad."

My phone slipped from my frozen fingers.


	14. The Truth Comes Out

Disclaimer: Ohh, let me check here a minute…Nope, Disney just informed me that they still have the rights to SWAC

* * *

The Truth Comes Out

A labyrinth can be defined in several different ways: 1. An intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit. 2. A maze of paths bordered by high hedges, as in a park or garden, for the amusement of those who search for a way out. 3. A complicated or tortuous arrangement, as of streets or buildings. 4. Any confusingly intricate state of things or events; a bewildering complex.

In my eyes, all these words boil down into one simple sentence: My life is one huge labyrinth.

Since the beginning of my life, or the starting point of the maze, my parents picked for me where they wanted my finish line to be by putting me into acting. It doesn't matter what you say or do with your life, they told me more than one time, as long as each step you take leads you closer to becoming an actor. They helped me a lot during the first years of my life. Audition after audition came my way and they only allowed me to sign up for the ones they believed would help me reach the ultimate goal. Some jobs I got, other I didn't. My labyrinth led down quite a few dead ends.

A role in a commercial led to a small part in a movie and, before I knew it, I received the phone call letting me know I was to play Mackenzie in the new tween drama, Mackenzie Falls. After that, there didn't seem to be many dead ends. Every part I tried out for, I got. My acting skills did nothing but grow. Realizing I had a handle on what was going on in my life, my parents started letting me make my own decisions. I was in charge of finding my own dead ends (which didn't seem to happen very often. All casting directors fell in love with me at first sight).

Just when I thought everything was going good, my labyrinth added a new path for me to navigate down. Her name was Allison 'Sonny' Munroe.

I walked straight into many walls when it came to Sonny. When she first came to Hollywood, all I wanted to do was fight with her because she had me afraid (yes, she had me, the great Chad Dylan Cooper, afraid of losing the number one spot). So Random! was never worth watching before, but she changed that. The viewers started rising and I knew I could never be friends with her. Enemies was what Condor Studios wanted us to be and was what we became.

It wasn't in Sonny's personality to be enemies with anyone (is it possible for anyone with a name like Sonny to not be cheerful around everyone?). Despite the feud our shows were in, she tried to make peace. My first dead end came when I didn't listen to her. I was too stubborn and stuck on myself to become friends with her. Still, the more she tried, the more I began to look forward to our time together. Dead end number two came when I could do nothing but argue with her. It was the only way I could cover up the feelings taking over my body, the feelings that took me weeks and weeks before I understood what they meant. Dead end number three took place every time I pushed her away instead of pulling her closer to me.

That's right; somewhere amid the fighting, I actually fell in love with Sonny and for some reason I will never be able to fathom (sure, all girls love me, but they don't really know who I am. Sonny knew all about my real personality and for some reason looked at me with a burning passion beneath her glares), she felt the same about me. A new passage started once we started dating, although this time I wasn't trying to find my way by myself. I had a hand to grasp whenever I needed one.

Don't think the two of us never hit any dead ends just by putting our two heads together. Sometimes, it seemed like we reached more than our fair share of bad times. We still fought, our casts couldn't get along, and some days, I wanted to go home and forget about her instead of taking her out for dinner after work. Life was more than a little stressful at times, but at the end of the day, I was happy to call Sonny mine. Our path was doing pretty good for awhile despite everything trying to end it.

Dead end number who knew what: Lucy.

It can be hard to understand what your heart is trying to tell you. Teenagers change their minds every day and even though people think stars have an easy life, I can tell you first hand we don't (do you know how stressful it can be to get a new episode of Mackenzie Falls filmed each and every week? If I take even one sick day or I-don't-feel-like-coming-in-today-because-I'm-tired days, the whole schedule can be thrown off). Our minds can change, too, sometimes causing just as much drama, if not more, than a regular high school student faces every day. For example, take my mind when Lucy walked into my life.

She was nice, fun to be around, and a great person to hang out with for my week long visit to Wisconsin. My labyrinth challenged me with her, seeing if I would be smart enough to push her away. I wasn't, and thanks to my own stupidity, the path Sonny and I walked down together met many, many blocks. Bryson was right; I did enjoy Lucy's company, including her kiss, and I did like her.

But the relationship between Lucy and I was never going to be anything more than platonic. I knew that the second she told me about Sonny and I forced the pilot to turn the plane around.

I couldn't get my heart to beat right the entire flight back to Wisconsin. Lucy didn't tell me what was wrong with Sonny, only that she couldn't call me and tell me herself. What was wrong with her? Had she gotten into some kind of accident? Did the sickness she tried to hide finally overtake her? All I could think about was her as I raced toward the Wisconsin hospital, the words Bryson said to me lost as I nervously stared out the window, wondering if the building would ever enter my sight.

The worry I felt for Sonny, the way my chest hurt from drumming so hard and actual tears sprang to my eyes, told me exactly what I needed to know: Lucy wasn't the path I was supposed to keep walking down. I didn't feel about her the same way I felt about Sonny and I never would (which I proved by running past her in the waiting room, heading straight for Sonny, even though I had no idea where she was). I'm still young and my labyrinth has plenty of twists and turns left for me, I'm sure-

But for now, as I try to find my way out of the mess and into the man I'm supposed to be, the brown haired girl lying lifeless on a hospital bed in front of me is the one I need the help of. Not Lucy, or Portlyn, or Tawni, or any of my past girlfriends. Just Sonny.

Just Sonny…For ever and for always.

* * *

Grandma Munroe's voice was the only one I could hear mumbling softly in the room. Different voices had been talking to me all day (mom, dad, Lucy. No other family members though and I assumed they had already left before I passed out, along with all my friends). I'd been half awake for awhile and had heard the voices explain what had happened to me. Apparently, one second I was in the barn, telling Lucy I wanted to be left alone, and the next, I was coughing, complaining about a sore chest, sweating, and had a heartbeat that was much too fast. Instead of just passing over like all the other times, I blacked out.

"I told you we should've tested her earlier this week!" I heard mom say once before what sounded like a loud slap resounded off the walls.

It was a long time before mom and dad finally left my bedside. They must've looked as stressed out as they sounded because the doctor suggested they head down to the cafeteria and get a bite to eat or go to the gift shop and find me a 'Get Well Soon' present. I knew it was wrong of me to not open my eyes and let them know I was awake, but I knew what would happen if I did: dad would hug me, mom would ask if I was alright, and then the testing for Tuberculosis would begin.

If there was no way of getting out of the tests, why start as soon as possible? I was going to stall until I got too hungry or too thirsty to keep pretending to sleep.

A small chuckle close to my ear almost forced me to jump. Thankfully I was able to stop myself before actually moving, although I might've flinched because Grandma Munroe seemed to laugh harder afterwards.

"You can stop pretending, honey," she whispered gently. "I have a feeling you're about to get a visit from someone you'll want to talk to."

I didn't move at her words, staying as still as I possibly could. Did she know I was awake? How long had she known? Why was she letting me get away with it instead of telling mom and dad?

And of course, there was the most important question: who was coming in to visit me? If it was Lucy coming in to say she was sorry for what had to be the millionth time, I was going-

The shoes that entered the room didn't click the same way Lucy's heels had done earlier. There were only two feet this time, so it wasn't mom and dad returning. If it wasn't any of the three of them and Grandma Munroe was already with me, then who-

"Is she going to be alright?"

I recognized that conceited, over-dramatized voice anywhere. My eyes flew open, I sat up straight in the bed, and sure enough, my eyes were met by none other than those belonging to Chad. Only what felt like two seconds passed before he was running toward me, pulling me into a hug tighter than any I'd ever been given. Once again, it was hard to breathe, but I clung to him so hard, I could feel my fingers losing circulation.

"I am so sorry I wasn't here with you when it happened-,"

"Thank goodness you're here! I hate hospitals, I was hoping you would show up! Why am I hugging you when I should be slapping you?"

"I deserve each and every slap you give me for the rest of my life! You see, I had an epiphany on the way here-,"

"Hold it. When did you learn what an epiphany is?"

"And I figured out that although I thought I liked Lucy as more than friends-,"

"You thought what now?"

"I really don't! You're the one my labyrinth is trying to lead me toward; you're the one it's always been pointing to. It just took me a little bit of side-tracking to figure that out!"

There were so many questions in my head as I finally pushed Chad far enough away that I could look into his eyes. He had really thought about Lucy in a more than friends way (part of the reason I let him hug me was because Lucy explained she was the one who kissed him, not the other way around)? He'd had an epiphany? He had his own labyrinth?

"You know what?" I said, shaking my head. "I don't really care what you're talking about. I'm just glad you're here with me again."

"Get used to me being here, Munroe," he said, pressing his forehead to mine, his lips brushing the tip of my nose. "I'm not leaving this time."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I assured him.

"Good."

"Good."

"Fine."

"Fine."

That was when Grandma Munroe pushed her way between us, shoving Chad away from me.

"Sit down and make yourself comfortable, son," she ordered, nodding toward the chair she'd just been sitting in. "I have an important talk to give both you kids before Sonny's parents get back."

Chad stared at me, silently asking me what was going on. I turned my eyes away from him, gazing at the white blanket wrapped around my body. It was time to tell him the truth about the disease even I was starting to believe I had.

* * *

Her story started off easily enough:

"When I was a young girl, I found out I had Tuberculosis."

"Tuberculosis," I repeated after Grandma Munroe, nodding my head like I knew exactly what the word meant.

"Tuberculosis is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria that grow best in areas of the body that have lots of blood and oxygen," Sonny explained, seeing through my trick. "It's also known as TB. When it's found in the lungs, it's known as pulmonary TB, but if it spreads to the rest of the body, it's called extra pulmonary TB."

"That's right," Grandma Munroe confirmed, giving her granddaughter a proud smile. "I had pulmonary TB years ago, which is when Tuberculosis is at its contagious stage. I could've given it to anyone I came in contact with simply by talking or laughing."

"See, the person who has pulmonary TB is only contagious when they breathe out air that has the TB bacteria in it," Sonny went on to explain. "The other people around them, including not only family members who live in the same house but anyone else who gets too close, can easily breathe in the bacteria-full air. It's even easier when the person with TB speaks or laughs though because that exerts more than just breathing does."

I kept my mouth shut, letting the girls go on with their explanation. Sometimes, the best thing to do for someone was to shut up and give them a chance to talk. If Sonny was finally ready to tell me what was going on, I was willing to listen.

"There were several signs of having TB I showed before my parents brought me in for testing," Grandma Munroe continued. She glared at Sonny as she started listing off the symptoms. "A cough that brings up thick, cloudy, and sometimes bloody mucus from the lungs for more than two weeks, tiredness, weight loss, night sweats and fevers, rapid heartbeats, swelling in the neck, shortness of breath, chest pains…"

My eyes turned to Sonny. "Why do a lot of those sound familiar?"

"I don't know," she replied, his eyes widening in mock surprise. "Do you think you might have Tuberculosis, Chad?"

Reaching around Grandma Munroe, I slapped Sonny's shoulder gently - or, at least, that's what I tried to do. She held up a pillow before I could touch her, hitting it at me as she tried to force away my hands. I was going to fight back when the person standing between us cleared her throat.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said once I sat back in my chair and Sonny removed her pillow. "If you two would rather sit here and flirt instead of hearing the rest of the story, be my guests."

"Sorry, Grandma Munroe," Sonny and I apologized in one voice.

"Wait, I have a question before you go on," I cut off the two mouths that were opening, ready to begin the story again. "Is Tuberculosis hereditary? If it is, how come Sonny got it but neither of her parents did?"

"The only way you can get TB is by breathing in the bacteria from a person who already has it," Grandma Munroe answered. She turned to look at Sonny, shrugging her shoulders as a sad expression crossed her lips. "I don't know who Allison was around that gave her the disease, but I can promise you she didn't get it from me."

"If," Sonny protested, folding her arms over her chest stubbornly. "If I have it, you didn't give it to me, not I for sure didn't get it from you."

Grandma Munroe and I both chose to ignore her.

"Why would it take this long for her symptoms to start showing up?" I asked, my eyes on Grandma Munroe. "I've been around the same people she has been for over a year, so there's no way she just got Tuberculosis. If she's had it for such a long time, shouldn't she have started coughing and feeling tired and all that ages ago?"

"Tuberculosis has two forms to it: Latent TB and Active TB," she replied. "Latent TB is when the bacteria is in your body but your immune system is still trying to fight it off. When Tuberculosis is still in the Latent stage, it can't spread to others and no symptoms occur. On the other hand, Active TB-,"

"Active TB is when the bacteria starts to grow," Sonny cut off her grandmother. "Symptoms finally start to take place and, assuming it's already in your lungs, TB becomes very easy to spread."

"In other words, it's very possible Allison has had Latent TB for awhile and has just now moved into Active TB," Grandma Munroe summarized.

Their stories were starting to make sense to me. If Sonny had had Latent TB, it sounded like it was usual for her symptoms to randomly start occurring, which was exactly what they'd done. I could remember our days in Hollywood shortly before Thanksgiving break started, how Sonny had been fine one day, coughing up a storm the next.

Worried that Tuberculosis seemed to be fitting in a little bit too perfectly, I turned to Grandma Munroe.

"Shouldn't we be testing her right now instead of sitting around talking about it?" I demanded. Without waiting for an answer, I got to my feet, walking toward the door. "Can I get a doctor in this room right away, please?" The nurse passing through the hall simply shrugged her shoulders at me, continuing on her stroll without looking away from the folder in her hands. "Hey! You can't ignore me like that; don't you know who I am?"

"Ohh, ohh, I know this one!" I could feel my face reddening as I turned around to find Mr. and Mrs. Munroe standing behind me. While Mrs. Munroe gave me an odd stare (she must've heard my latest shouting fit), her husband cocked his head as he stared down at me. "You're Chad something…What was your last name again? Hooper? Scooper?"

"Chad Dylan Cooper, dad," Sonny called from inside her room.

"No, no, that's not it," Mr. Munroe protested, waving off her answer.

Grandma Munroe picked that moment to join the three of us in the hall, putting her fragile arms around the two adult Munroe's, trying to lead them away from the room.

"Let's give the kids a few minutes of alone time," she said in a calm tone.

"Alone time?" Mrs. Munroe repeated, struggling to get away. "Helen, I'm not going to leave my daughter alone with that - that -,"

"I believe it's Allison's decision to forgive him, not yours," Grandma Munroe cut her off. "Besides, I remember the first fight you had with a certain boyfriend of yours. When I tried to keep you apart, you ran off and eloped with him. Do you want that to happen to your daughter?"

The trio stopped walking when Mr. Munroe turned to his wife in shock.

"You eloped with one of your boyfriends?" he asked, sounding appalled. "But you said when we did the same thing that you had never been married before!"

Knowing a long explanation was about to follow, Grandma Munroe continued to push the couple forward, looking over her shoulder long enough to wink at me. She was giving me a chance to talk to Sonny alone.

The smile I missed seeing on her face wasn't there when I sat in the chair again, moving it closer to her bed. She avoided my eyes, not even looking up when I started stroking her hair.

"How long?" I asked her.

"I've known that I might have Tuberculosis since Tuesday morning," she answered, knowing exactly what I was asking her. "I had a nightmare Monday night, Grandma Munroe noticed I was running a low fever, she told me how she used to have TB, and my family and I spent the day sitting in the hospital's parking lot. I was too afraid to actually come in and have the tests done."

"Why didn't you tell me about it? I could've helped you. I would've taken your hand to make you feel better, or talked everything through with you, or…something." I gently took her chin in my hand, forcing her eyes to meet mine. "Weren't we close enough before all the Lucy events took place for you to tell me something this important?"

She tried to turn her head down again, but I firmly held it in place. Tears sprang to the corners of her beautiful eyes.

"Do you want to know the truth?" I had to nod before she continued. "In the dream I had, I was in a hospital. I had no idea what I was doing there and I was scared to death. That was when I saw you were sitting at my side. I felt better about everything right away - until my cast informed me I was too sick to be on So Random! You turned away from me, saying something about how Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't date girls he can't be seen with in public. The time I needed you the most, you left me for Tawni and…"

Her voice trailed off, but she didn't need to say the other name for me to know exactly who she meant. Taking my hand off her chin, she quickly turned her gaze away, embarrassed to be admitting the truth.

"Sonny…" My throat constricted, my own tears threatening to come out. "You honestly think I would leave you like that?"

"You did last night."

She told me why she didn't tell me about Tuberculosis sooner. Now it was my turn to apologize about Lucy.

"What I did last night was wrong on so many different levels," I started off before pausing. I hadn't said 'I'm sorry' a lot through the years and wasn't quite sure what to say. "I was mad at you on Tuesday when you blew off our plans. I know that's no excuse for what I did, asking Lucy to go skating with me instead. To be honest, you were making me mad by accusing me of flirting. It was almost like you were trying to push me away-,"

"Guilty as charged," Sonny cut me off, raising her hand in the air. "I was trying to push you away, but only because I didn't want you getting sick if I really did have TB. Lucy just happened to be the only one around to push you into the arms of. I guess…I guess I over-reacted a little bit when my plan to put you guys together and away from me actually started working."

"Shh," I shushed her, putting my finger over her lips. "Please don't blame yourself for any of this. At least you had a reason to act like a jerk; I didn't. This whole week, I've been acting like an idiot, a pompous, over-dramatic idiot who-,"

"Really found a knack for flirting?"

I shrugged my shoulders, nodding my head. What else was left for me to say? That I was never going to leave her side again now that I knew how to beat my labyrinth? How worried I was the second I found out she was incapable of answering her cell phone? The desire I was fighting back to hug her for the next 24 hours without ever letting go?

It didn't seem like the right time to say any of that stuff. Instead, only two words left my lips:

"I'm sorry."

Not saying it was alright or I was forgiven or that I still had a lot of work to do before forgiveness would ever come, Sonny changed the topic.

"Even if the doctors tell you to go sit in the waiting room, you're not going to do it, are you?" she asked, her tone serious. "Now that I've actually fainted, there's no way my parents are going to let me out of testing for Tuberculosis. I want to know you'll be right here as soon as the tests are done."

"What tests do they have to do?"

"Well, first they have to look at what they call Sputum cultures. That's where they'll - pardon my blandness here - they'll take mucus from my lungs and see if there's any TB bacteria growing on it. If they do find bacteria, then sensitivity tests will be run to find out what medications will help cure me. Results could take anywhere from one week to six in order to find out the results. I'll probably have a chest x-ray done as well since they do that when a person has been showing a lot of the symptoms."

"We could go six weeks without knowing whether or not you have it?" I asked, waiting for Sonny's nod. "Well…I guess that's a good thing. They should have plenty of time to find you medication by then, right?"

Sonny shrugged her shoulders.

"What?" I asked, reaching for her hand. "Why don't you sound happy about finding a cure?"

"Most cures involve taking a lot of medicine, Chad. Medicine that I could get messed up or take in the wrong order or even forget about," she answered, letting her eyes meet mine. "A lot of people hire someone to come over to their house every day and enforce the medicine taking."

"If you're afraid of forgetting, then we'll hire a doctor to help you," I reassured her quickly. "I'll even pay for it if money's the problem."

I started leaning down, wanting to take her worry away using another tactic - namely, with a kiss. When a soft material met me instead, my already shut eyes flew open. Sonny had put her pillow between our faces.

"No kissing," she informed me. "Actually, we shouldn't even be talking right now. There's a strong chance I have TB, and I am not giving it to you. Besides, Thanksgiving vacation is almost over. You have to get back to Condor Studios." She tried pushing me away from her bedside. "Go. Get out of my room. I'll call you in one to six weeks and let you know how the test comes out."

"If I leave now," I protested, planting my feet firmly on the ground as she continued to push, "How do you expect me to be waiting here when you get back from testing?"

For the first time, she smiled at me.

"Do you mean that?" Her voice was only too eager. "You're really going to stay? What about Mackenzie Falls?"

"I'll call my director and let him know I'll be late getting back the first chance I get. I have vacation time to use up anyway."

"You could get TB if you stick around, you know, even if we don't kiss. I mean, yeah, there's a vaccine for it, but since it's not a disease that hits many people, they don't even offer it except in rare occasions-,"

"For you, I'm willing to take my chances. You're not getting rid of me that easily, Munroe."

Squealing happily, Sonny pulled me into another hug. I wrapped my arms around her, taking in everything I could. The feel of her skin against mine, the sweet smell of her perfume, the way her hair made me want to sneeze as it tickled my nose…Who needed Lucy or the fan girls I had when Mackenzie Falls first started? Sonny was better than all the girls on planet rolled into one. I was never going to let anything blind sight me from realizing that again.

"Get back here, Jerry! I told you to give the kids a moment to talk!"

Grandma Munroe's shout made Sonny pull away from me slightly, neither of us willing to let go of each other. Our attention turned toward the still open door where we could see Mr. Munroe in the hallway, Grandma Munroe following after him in a wheelchair I had a feeling she had no right to be using.

"I'm not trying to spy on Sonny!" Mr. Munroe said, gesturing farther down the hall. "The best bubbler in the whole hospital is down here!"

"Then you better move those scrawny legs of yours faster!" Grandma Munroe threatened, rolling by the doorway. "You don't want this wheelchair to pin you into a wall; trust me!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Mr. Munroe challenged her.

A few moments later, once they were both out of sight, a loud shout of pain echoed through the hospital.

"A bubbler?" I asked, turning my attention back to Sonny.

"Known as a bubbler to me, a drinking fountain to you," she explained, pointing a finger at me before I could do more than crack a smile. "Hey, don't even think about laughing at my Wisconsin grammar. I have a grandma with a wheelchair I can send in to attack you!"

"You wouldn't dare," I challenged her, imitating Mr. Munroe.

Her eyes were the ones sparkling this time as she leaned forward, waving her arms around wildly like that was going to get her grandmother's attention. Pinning her arms to her sides, I sat on the bed behind her, gently pulling her back until she was resting against my chest. She didn't protest and, breaking her own rule, she leaned up and kissed my cheek.

For the first time all week, we were both truly happy.

* * *

Author's Note: credit for letting me know about the bubbler/drinking fountain thing: Shmadders14 Thanks!


	15. Epilogue

Here it is. The last chapter of BULL. If you would like to know what happens in the next chapter of the COW and BULL series, check out my other story titled CALF, Caught After Love's Fall.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing, thanks for asking!

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Epilogue

It was Sonny's idea to go out for dinner. I tried warning her that all the good restaurants were going to be closed (what five-star place was going to force their employees to work on Christmas Eve?), but she insisted someplace would be open. We drove around for a good hour, trying to find a building with lights on inside and no drive-thru window (no way was Chad Dylan Cooper eating at McDonald's!). I, as always, won the fight: everything was closed.

"Fine," Sonny sighed after reaching the same conclusion. "We might as well head back to my house and try to find some food there. I just want you to do me one small favor first."

Mr. and Mrs. Munroe didn't want to let me stay at their house when they first found out I was staying in Wisconsin until the results of Sonny's tests came in, but after I spent one night at a nearby hotel and Sonny had a chance to talk to them alone and work her magic, I was allowed to keep my original guest room. Grandma Munroe and Mr. Munroe seemed to adjust to my presence easily enough, and after a few days of glaring at me, so did Mrs. Munroe. I could understand why she was angry. Portlyn had told me how heartbroken Sonny was the night I left her and started back to Hollywood. My heart nearly broke every time I pictured the scene; I could only imagine how bad it had been for Mrs. Munroe to watch her daughter go through it. But I did apologize to the entire family, not only Sonny.

Being the only guest at the Munroe house was a lot different than having all the people there who came over Thanksgiving. Instead of hiding amidst everyone to get out of doing anything, Sonny and I were put to work. "If you're not in Hollywood earning your money that way, then you might as well earn it by doing chores," was Mrs. Munroe's theory. She had us mopping the kitchen's tile flooring, cleaning out the fireplace, scrubbing the toilet in the bathroom. Most of the jobs were new to me (that's what I hired people to do for me back in Hollywood), but Sonny was a great teacher. She had been doing the chores for years and loved sitting around, watching me do all the work as I followed her orders.

"I would help you out, Chad," she said when I asked why I was the one on my hands and knees while she filed her nails. "How do you ever expect to learn how to do these chores though if I don't let you do them on your own? Besides, I might be sick, remember?"

"I might be sick, too," I protested. "You warned me when I agreed to stay in Wisconsin I could become sick after spending time with you."

"The work will get done much faster if you shut your mouth and get to it."

I was mopping the kitchen floor during the conversation and there was a bucket of soapy water beside me, just waiting for me to pick it up and pour it somewhere…The sweet unsuspecting girl sitting on the counter so her feet were out of my cleaning zone sounded like a pretty good target.

Sonny's mouth fell open as I held the now empty bucket over her head. She was drenched, her entire upper torso looking as though she had walked outside during a rainstorm. Bubbles slid down from her hair, only narrowly missing her eyes. I didn't even try to hide my smile as she gave me a 'What the heck?' glare.

"I am so sorry about that, Sonny! My hand must've slipped or something," I apologized, not sounding sorry at all through the laughter. I took a step back when she jumped off the counter, stalking toward me like I always pictured a hungry lion doing during feeding time at the zoo if the feeder didn't give him his food right away. Just like the lion would be ready to attack, Sonny too looked like she was ready to tear me apart. "What's the matter? I thought you liked it when random events happened."

"I'll show you 'random events', Cooper," she threatened, her tone serious.

Despite the flirting we did and the fun dates I tried to plan every night, Sonny wasn't her normal self. Sure, she acted happy whenever she was around me, pretending my nightly activities were helpful, but my room was right next to hers and I could hear her crying almost every night. Sometimes I went in to comfort her, holding her in my arms until we heard movements and knew someone was awake and I had to go in case they knocked on her door, but other times I left her alone. She was getting anxious about the test results as one week rolled into a new one with no news from her doctor. The longer it took, the more certain she seemed to be that she had Tuberculosis.

"I just know I have it, Chad," she told me one night as we laid side by side on her bed, my fingers unable to brush her tears away before more would come. "Why else would it be taking this long to get back the test results? I don't know what I'm going to do if I have TB. I won't be able to work on So Random! anymore. I love my cast too much to put them in danger of getting the disease as well. And you'll have to go back to Hollywood. You really will get it if you stay with me, and besides, you can't just give up Mackenzie Falls-,"

"You know, for working on a comedy show, you sure can be dramatic sometimes," I teased her. When she didn't laugh, I sighed, leaning down to kiss her forehead (she was still sticking to the no kissing on the lips rule). "Look, if you really do have TB, then we'll have plenty of time to decide what to do about it. For tonight, can't we just enjoy our time together?"

"I'm sorry I'm so down all the time," she apologized, like she had anything to be sorry about. "I'm just scared. And I miss everyone at Condor Studios, too. I'm sure if they were here, they'd be able to help you take my mind off things."

As Christmas drew nearer and the test results still didn't arrive, I knew I had to come up with something really special for Sonny. I thought about calling her cast and inviting them to spend the holidays, but I remembered the last time I had done that, the anger Sonny had shown because of my actions, and the fact that she might feel guilty if they came, not wanting to take any chances of spreading any germs. Instead, I worked with Grandma Munroe to come up with a better present, one that I hadn't been able to stop thinking about since the week of Thanksgiving. Luckily, Sonny's grandmother was helpful with it; I had no idea how I would've prepared everything on my own.

But as Sonny and I sat in my car (which I'd had flown out not long after deciding to stay in Wisconsin), it was only Christmas Eve. Sonny wouldn't get her present from me until the following night, although I still wanted to make the night special for her. When she asked me to do her a favor, I smiled over at her.

"May I ask what that one small favor is before I say yes?" I asked.

"As long as you promise to say yes after I tell you," she agreed. I watched from the corner of my eye as she pulled something black from her purse. "Will you put on this blindfold?"

Sure, I was willing to do anything to make Sonny happy, but her favor didn't make any sense. Why would I wear a blindfold while driving down the street? Was she trying to kill both of us?

"Uh, Sonny, I know you may think your life has reached an all-time low right now, but do you really think committing suicide is your best option? I mean, if you really want to-,"

Sonny slapped my shoulder as hard as she could.

"I'm not trying to commit suicide!" she protested, shaking her head. "We're not going to die if you put on your blindfold. I'll still tell you when to turn and everything. I just don't want you to see something once we arrive at my house."

"If I drive with that blindfold on and kill us, neither of us will ever see anything again!"

"Just put on the stupid blindfold."

"Why don't you put on the stupid blindfold!"

"Because I'm not the one who's getting surprised!"

"I don't want whatever surprise happens after I try driving with that thing on!"

"Then pull off the road, switch seats with me, and let me drive while you wear the blindfold."

"No one drives my baby but me."

It was with a loud sigh that Sonny slumped back in her seat, folding her arms over her chest angrily.

"You know what? It doesn't even matter anymore," she said, nodding forward. "You can see the surprise from here."

I'd been so busy arguing with Sonny, I hadn't really been paying attention to where I was driving. Sure enough, her house was on top of us, the car almost too far past the driveway to turn in. To my surprise, a car was already in the place I usually parked.

"That car doesn't look like the one your parents drive," I stated the obvious. "It's too run down even for them to use."

"That's because it not theirs," Sonny said, climbing out of my car once I rolled to a stop behind the old looking one blocking me from getting any closer to the house. "It's Grady's car, actually."

I was confused as I followed Sonny's example, running after her as she headed toward her house. She must've still been angry about the blindfold; she never walked so fast unless she was trying to get away from me.

"Grady's car?" I repeated, walking through the front door she tried pulling it shut behind her, catching it before it could slam in my face. "Why would Grady's car be sitting in your driveway?"

Sonny's voice wasn't the one that answered my question. She disappeared into her living room and when I ran in behind her, I found out why Grady's car was in Wisconsin. Its owner was there as well, having a fight with his best friend under the Christmas tree Sonny and I had spent all night putting up a few weeks earlier. Ornaments were falling all over the floor due to their roughhousing with each other.

"Hey!" I cried out, feeling an urge to rush forward and separate the two boys like the two year olds they were. "Get away from the tree!"

"Oh, let them have their fun," Tawni ordered me, coming up to stand at my side. "They're just getting rid of some of their extra energy. Trust me, having them do it like this is much better than some methods they have."

"Chad isn't up for having any fun tonight, Tawn," Sonny said from her spot on the couch. "He's so much against it, he won't even let his own girlfriend try to give him a surprise."

When I felt someone slap my back, I whirled around to see Portlyn standing behind me, an angry expression on her face.

"It's Christmas Eve and you wouldn't let Sonny give you a surprise?" She shook her head back and forth. "What kind of a boyfriend are you?"

"One who was trying to keep his girlfriend alive!" Before Portlyn could open her mouth to retort back, I launched into my own question. "What are you doing here anyway? The Mackenzie Falls bus wasn't outside. How did you get here?"

"That was part of my surprise," Sonny answered, still sounding mad. "I asked my cast and Portlyn to come spend Christmas with us. I wanted to invite all the Mackenzie Falls cast, but-,"

"But I wouldn't let her," Portlyn jumped in. "I didn't want another football game breaking out between everyone like what happened on Thanksgiving. So, since there were only five of us coming here and Grady's car could fit all of us, I rode with them instead of calling for a private jet."

My attention turned back to Nico and Grady, who were still wrestling with each other like they had no idea actual conversations were trying to happen. When they almost pushed their way into me, I finally had to know.

"Does anyone know what they're even fighting about?"

"Why does it matter?" Sonny's voice was bored as she shrugged her shoulders. "You're just going to tell them to stop, ruining whatever fun they're having. You'll probably make us sit here all night with nothing to do but stare at each other. Isn't that what you're idea of 'fun' is?"

Ok, I could deal with Sonny acting weird because she was afraid of not knowing whether or not she was sick. I could deal with having to spend my Christmas with the Randoms. I could even deal with giving up Mackenzie Falls for what was going on five weeks.

What I couldn't deal with was Sonny getting mad at me for not going through with what had to be her stupidest idea yet. Wanting me to wear a blindfold while driving…who did she think I was? Superman or some other superhero who could see the road through the fabric?

"What's the big deal if I didn't put on your stupid little blindfold? You still got to surprise me. I had no idea anyone was here!"

"You knew as soon as you saw Grady's car. I wanted you to wait until you walked through the door and saw everyone."

"Then maybe instead of asking me to blindfold myself, you should've asked your 'fun' to park in the backyard!"

"Maybe you should've been a little bit more cooperative!"

By this point, Sonny was on her feet, stepping closer to me every time it was her turn to shout something. I was doing the same thing, but no matter how close we came, we kept our voices as though we were shouting at each other across the room. I barely noticed Nico and Grady stop their fight to watch the new one or Portlyn and Tawni roll their eyes, although I did notice the smallest Random pushing her way between Sonny and me.

"Stop!" she ordered, shouting over the two of us. "This fight is on pause until I get back!"

Without another word, she ran out of the room, the front door opening and closing a few seconds later. The living room stayed silent in her absence, although judging by the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, it wasn't because the fight was over yet. Everyone was too curious what Zora was doing to keep the fight alive.

When the door opened and shut one last time, Zora ran back into the room, panting from being in motion for so long. There was one single item in her hands, an object that made Sonny's glare soften as she took it from the hands of her tired cast mate.

"Aww!" she cooed, holding up the item so I could see it. "Don't you remember this thing, Chad? It's the meat launcher Zora got us for our one year anniversary! She said we could use it whenever we got into a fight!"

To be honest, no, I didn't remember the strange catapult like item in Sonny's hands. I didn't remember any of the presents from the night of our first anniversary, really. They weren't important to me. The look on Sonny's face as she saw the party I'd thrown for her, the few moments of alone time we had in the hallway when she thought I was going to break up with her and we kissed instead, the cake fight that happened before guests started leaving and pulling an all-nighter at the studio to take care of clean-up, just the two of us…Those were the things I remembered from that night, not the gifts.

"That's right!" Zora confirmed Sonny's words. She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Right before we left to come here, I was in Tawni's dressing room and noticed that you'd left the meat launcher behind. I thought it might come in handy."

Even though I didn't see the big deal about the present, I was thankful Zora had picked then to give it to Sonny. For the moment, my girlfriend seemed to have forgotten about the blindfold fight, too busy bending down so she could wrap her arms around her cast member in thanks. Thanks to Zora, I was off the hook.

"Come on, everyone!" Sonny said happily, her attitude completely changed. "Let's get into the holiday spirit! Nico, Grady, turn off the lights so we can just have the Christmas tree lights on. Zora, Chad, try to pick out some good music. Tawni, Portlyn, you guys can help me make hot chocolate for everyone!"

Three giggling girls took off for the kitchen, two boys set off on a journey to figure out which light switch went with what light, and I led Zora over to the place I knew the Munroe's kept their music. It wasn't long before the seven of us sat in a dark room, catching up with each other as the twinkling Christmas tree lit up our faces, carols playing in the background. Sonny and I shared Grandma Munroe's rocking chair (her family was gone for night, taking care of a few last minute presents), leaving the couches to the rest of our friends. She smiled up at me more than once and I knew the fight was officially over. It was time to kick back, relax, and-

"Let's open gifts!" Grady exclaimed, leaving his seat so he could sit beneath the Christmas tree, his eyes on the brightly wrapped packages.

"No way!" Sonny protested. "It's Munroe tradition to save all the unwrapping for Christmas morning. Sorry, Grady, but you're going to have to wait, just like everyone else."

"Shouldn't we wait for Lucy to arrive anyway?" I asked, receiving a glare from my girlfriend. "What? I thought the two of you are friends again."

"We are friends again. You and her aren't," she replied. "I'll have my own Christmas party with her later."

Tawni picked that moment to stand up, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she did so.

"Well, Tawni tradition says she gives out her presents whenever she feels like giving them out," she said, putting a package into Grady's hands. "I hope you like it; it took me forever to pick it out!"

Grady wasn't the only one who was shocked, but since he was the one given a package, it was up to him to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"You actually bought gifts?" he asked, waiting for Tawni to nod before adding, "For people other than yourself?"

"Hey," the blonde pouted. "I can be caring sometimes. Now open it before I change my mind!"

Not needing to be told twice, Grady started pulling away the paper. When he was done and was able to hold the item up so everyone could see it, I almost started laughing. Sonny elbowed me, hard, and the pain she inflicted was the only thing that made me keep my mouth shut.

Grady was holding a mirror in his hands as a gushing Tawni stood over him, waiting for her praise.

"Gee…Thanks, Tawn," Grady said, his voice monotone. "How…thoughtful of you."

After Tawni started things off, Sonny had no hope of stopping the others from handing out their gifts, as well. It wasn't long before the floor in front of our chair was littered with presents (most of them for Sonny since it was mainly her cast, although everyone was quick to add, "It's for Chad, too," when handing over the gifts). It wasn't until everyone had taken their turn that Sonny climbed to her feet.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. "You said your family doesn't do presents until tomorrow."

"They don't, and I'll wait until tomorrow to give my family their presents," she explained, picking up a sack under the tree full of gifts the two of us had shopped for, making sure all her cast mates and Portlyn had at least three to unwrap. At the time, I wondered if she was really going to pay to ship all of them to Hollywood. "If everyone else is handing out theirs now, I might as well do it, too."

Many thank you's echoed around the room as paper flooded the floor. Watching the happy faces like a proud mother, Sonny turned her eyes to me last. One package I had no idea what was inside rested in her hands.

"Merry Christmas, Chad," she said, tossing it into my lap.

I was confused as I stared down at the red shiny paper. "You bought me something? But…I thought inviting everyone here was my present?"

"Yeah, like I'd really call having a cast of people you hate celebrate Christmas with us your present," she scoffed. "Of course I bought you something. Well, I didn't really buy it. Part of it was bought, I guess, but really I- Oh, you'll understand after you open it."

When I sat there, motionless, Sonny sat down beside me again, taking back the present.

"I'm going to open it for you if you don't do it yourself," she threatened. "You have five seconds…Four seconds…Three…Two…One…"

I ripped it from her grasp before she could shout out zero.

"Chad Dylan Cooper knows how to open his own presents," I informed her.

"Then Chad Dylan Cooper better hurry up," Sonny said, her eyes flying toward the clock. "We have to get going soon if you want part two of your present tonight."

"Going?" I repeated after her. "Part two? Sonny, I thought-,"

"I promised you I would make up for forgetting our first anniversary somehow," she cut me off. "I'm serious, Cooper. Hurry up and open part one so we can leave!"

Having no idea what Sonny was talking about, I knew better than to start another fight. I started tearing away the red paper until I uncovered a little notebook. When I stared at it, wondering if I was supposed to be noticing anything special about it, Sonny motioned for me to open it. I did, seeing that each page already had something written on it.

"It's a coupon book," Sonny explained as I flipped through the pages. "You can rip out the coupon you wish to use whenever you want to use it, although you have to throw it away once you're done. They can only be used one time each. There's some in there that'll let you win a fight, a few that will let you make fun of So Random! without me saying anything back, only one or two where you can say something egotistical about yourself-,"

She stopped talking when I held the book up where she could see it.

"Coupons for kissing?" I asked and she nodded in response, trying not to smile. "You said we couldn't kiss until…" My voice trailed off as I tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Sonny gave me coupons for kissing. She was hiding back a huge smile as she waited for me to speak again. She had invited her friends over for the holidays, for some reason no longer afraid of giving them TB… "Wait. You got back your test results and didn't tell me?"

"I just found out a few days ago, and I only didn't tell you because I wanted it to be part of your Christmas present," she replied, her words coming out too fast in her happiness. "They didn't find any signs of TB bacteria anywhere! It turns out I was right, I only did have a cold of some sort or another. You don't know how relieved I was when I found out, it was like-,"

There was only one way to shut Sonny up and show her how happy I was at the same time. Tearing out one of the kissing coupons, I threw it into her hands before taking advantage of it.

"Aww!" five voices chorused around us.

Sonny was blushing as she pulled away from me, but I didn't care. Everything was finally how it was supposed to be. She wasn't sick, it was Christmas Eve, and we were surrounded by our friends. For someone who hadn't known what a Christmas tree was until this time last year, I was beginning to fall in love with the holiday.

Instead of staying with me in the chair, Sonny jumped to her feet again, this time heading for the door. She stopped long enough to tag Grady's shoulder.

"So, are you ready for some driving time?" she asked.

Grady opened his mouth to answer, but I stepped between him and Sonny before he could say a word.

"May I ask why he's the one driving? There's snow on the ground and ice on the roads. He's not prepared to drive in conditions like that. It doesn't snow in Hollywood."

"Hey," Nico protested, stepping up to defend his best friend. "My man can handle driving on icy roads just as good as you can, Chip Drama Pants!"

"Oh, really?" I turned to face the taller of the two boys, giving him a stare-down. "It just so happens that I've been driving on roads like this for several weeks. How many times has your friend driven on them?"

"Only once as he drove into Wisconsin, but he only needs one time in order to reach your skills!" Nico persisted, not backing down at all.

I could feel Sonny and Portlyn behind me, each grabbing an arm like they thought I was really going to try and attack the Random. Tawni rushed to his side, trying to hold him back as well, Grady watching the scene with a frightened expression on his face. Zora was the only one who started laughing.

"I'll be right back," she said, heading toward the kitchen. "Sonny, you do have meat in your refrigerator, right?"

"She's kidding about the meat…isn't she?" Portlyn asked, and when I glanced at her over my shoulder, I could see her eyes nervously turn toward the meat launcher.

"It's hard to tell with her," Sonny replied, letting go of me so she could step into the small space between my body and Nico's. "There's a better way to solve this fight than hitting each other with meat, guys. Chad, if you don't trust Grady driving on the road, then everyone will have to squeeze into your car."

"What? No way! I'm not going to take the chance of ruining my seats by trying to cram too many people onto them!"

"Fine, then I'll go with Grady and the rest of my cast while you and Portlyn follow behind-,"

"You are not getting in a car with an inexperienced driver."

Sonny's glare was back as she stared up at me, a hand on each of her hips.

"I gave you two options, Chad. Pick one or the other before I decide you don't deserve the rest of your gift," she said firmly.

Nervously, I held up my coupon book.

"Can I use one of my 'I win this fight' coupons?" I asked.

The look she gave me was enough to make me sigh. As much as I loved my car, the thought of having her out on horrible roads with someone like Grady, a guy who ran over mailboxes and sidewalks in good weather, was worse than risking my car's condition.

"Fine," I gave in, talking through gritted teeth. "We'll take my car."

Nico and Grady exchanged looks before shouting the same word: "Shot-gun!" With that, they were running outside, nearly knocking over Zora as she returned to the room, meat in both hands.

"I missed the fight again?" she whined. "Why do you people always find reasonable solutions?"

Her question went unanswered as my five-person car began to pile full of seven people.

Thankfully, Sonny didn't really let Nico or Grady sit up front. There was no seat between the two front ones and whoever ended up sitting there was going to be half on my seat, half sharing with whoever the passenger was. My controls were by the wheel, but my arm would be bumping into the person beside me a lot due to the closeness. Hitting Nico or Grady every two seconds would've felt very awkward.

Sonny was the one who sat in the middle of the front row, Portlyn taking the seat next to her. The other four Randoms squeezed into the back, fighting as Sonny put the car into drive for me, telling me to go ahead, her cast would stop soon enough. She was wrong. They didn't stop fighting with each other, pushing and yelling, even putting their dirty shoes up on my seats. It was Sonny who finally had enough.

"If you don't start behaving soon, this trip is over for all four of you," she threatened. "Don't make Chad turn this car around!"

Her plan worked. Any fighting that took place after her speech was softer and not as violent. Sonny saved my car from sure destruction.

Instead of asking me to wear the blindfold, Sonny directed me where to go, although she did keep the location of it secret. A few times when she told me to turn down roads that looked extremely icy I tried talking her out of it, but she always reached over and took the wheel from me, spinning it before I had a chance to stop her. One time she became so annoyed with my slow speed (what did she have against being careful on the roads?) and it wasn't long before she was becoming shorter and shorter. I didn't realize what she was doing until I felt her foot join mine on the gas pedal.

"What do you think you're doing?" I shouted, trying to push away her foot. "It takes one person to drive a car, not two!"

"Apparently it takes two for someone who drives as slow as you do," Sonny protested, refusing to move. "Don't worry, I'll take care of the speed. You just keep your hands on the wheel."

"I think I can control my own speed-,"

"Obviously you can't."

"You're making us go way too fast, what happens if we hit ice?"

My question was answered soon enough. Already Sonny had added too much speed. The car hit what had to be black ice and I had no way to stop it as it charged forward on its own. Six people started screaming and I reached for Sonny's hand, clutching it in my own for dear life. At least if we died, I could know I was with the one I loved during my last few minutes.

The car stopped moving, the screaming went on, and the eyes I had shut decided to fly open.

"Shut up!" I ordered everyone around me. "We're not going to die! My car might since it's now stuck in a ditch, but all of us are fine."

"Look, we're close enough to walk to our destination!" Sonny exclaimed proudly, pointing off in the distance. "Come on, everyone, let's start walking!"

"Wait!" I wasn't sure if anyone was listening to me as they followed Sonny's orders. "What about my car?"

Sonny appeared at my door, pulling it open before reaching across me and unfastening my seatbelt.

"You can call a tow-truck later," she reasoned, tugging on my arm, "After I give you your present!"

It was cold out (the snow was beginning to fall again) and I was glad to see the building Sonny pointed to wasn't far away at all. As I drew closer, I realized which building it was.

"A movie theater?" My surprised eyes turned to Sonny. "Really, Sonny? You got my car stuck in a ditch so you could drag me to see that chick flick you've been begging me to take you to?"

"You'll see," was her only response as she gave my fingers an extra squeeze.

When the group of us walked inside, Sonny led us away from the line of people waiting to buy tickets. A few people started to argue, saying we shouldn't be allowed in before them, but it wasn't long before whispers of, "Don't I know those people from somewhere?" started to echo around the room. Sonny proudly walked up to the man who was taking tickets, pretending not to hear all the murmuring going on around her.

"I called in ahead of time," she explained, tapping the clipboard he had in his hands. "My name is Sonny Munroe. I should be on your list."

He only studied the piece of paper in front of him for a few seconds before nodding his head and stepping aside.

"Go right ahead, Miss. Munroe," he said, gesturing for all of us to start walking. "Theater one is all yours."

"'All yours'?" I repeated, letting my lips get close to Sonny's ear. "You didn't really rent out a whole theater…did you?"

"Trust me, you're not going to want a whole roomful of strangers to watch what we're about to see," she answered. "It's a little video I put together for only your eyes - and the eyes of our closest friends. I really hope you like it, I put a lot of work into this movie, I had to hire someone who knew how to take all the clips and make them run together nicely and-,"

She stopped talking when I put my arm around her shoulders.

"I know I'm going to love it," I reassured her.

"How can you know that already? You haven't even seen it yet."

"You took the time to make it for me. I love everything that you do," I said, watching as her smile grew. "Well, except when you want me to wear a blindfold while driving and get mad when I don't do it. And when you try to drive for me. Oh yeah, and when you-,"

"I think we've had enough examples," Sonny cut me off. "Shut up and enjoy your movie before I cancel the showing."

Sonny and I sat in the very back row, letting everyone else pick wherever they wanted to sit. Nico and Grady first sat on opposite ends of the theater, shouting messages back and forth with each other as Tawni and Portlyn sat together, shaking their heads. Zora was the one who finally got the boys to calm down and actually sit just as the lights started to dim.

The movie started off by showing clips of me from Mackenzie Falls before doing the same thing for Sonny and So Random! A slideshow started soon afterward, music playing through the speakers as picture after picture of Sonny and I flew by.

Sonny snuggled closer to me as the music played on, her voice soft as she asked me a question.

"So…Does this make up for me missing our anniversary?"

"I forgave you for that a long time ago," I replied with a laugh. "But how are you going to top me for Christmas this year?"

The look she gave me was pure puzzlement as she tried to figure out my words.

"This is my Christmas present to you, along with my attempt to beat out the surprise party you threw on our first year anniversary," she said slowly. "Besides, what gift could you have that would be better than my movie?"

I reached into my pocket, pulling out the little box Grandma Munroe and I had spent forever picking out. Sonny didn't notice what I was doing at first, but when she saw the box and took a guess as to what was inside, her hands covered her mouth.

"Sonny Munroe…" I paused, letting my eyes lock with hers as I opened the box, revealing a diamond ring. "Will you marry me?"

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Author's Note:

Credit for giving me the idea of Chad proposing: dynamiteword

One last reminder: Be sure to check out CALF, Caught After Love's Fall, which can now be found on my profile.


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